Today, the government will unveil a plan to support public servants with chronic illnesses. Objective: to lift the taboo of cancer in administration. Jean-Rémi Baudot’s political brief.
This is a question that many French people, confronted with the disease, have asked themselves, and which also weighs on those around the sick: should you talk about your illness at work? A question that is far from being anecdotal. Every day, 1000 French people learn that they have cancer. Among them, 400 have a job. And according to a recent study, one in two people say they are afraid to tell their employer. Obviously, the question arises for cancer. As for other pathologies, such as endometriosis or diabetes to name a few.
>> All the episodes of the podcast “My life facing cancer: Clémentine’s diary”
This plan, which will be announced on June 1, 2023, and which franceinfo was able to consult exclusively, is divided into three parts. First, better information: in the administration, many agents are (quite simply) unaware that they are entitled to accommodations, exemptions and leave of absence.
Duty of “exemplarity”
Then, better support for caregivers. Until now in the public service, it was only possible to take whole days to accompany a loved one. According to our information, Minister Stanislas Guerini will announce more flexibility for caregivers. For example, it will be possible to split. To only take a few hours or half a day to better reflect the reality of the support. Finally, last point: strengthening preventive actions on chronic diseases.
This plan concerns the three public services, ie five and a half million agents throughout the country. “With them, the State must be exemplary“, argues the Ministry of Public Service. In reality, the administration is trying to catch up and get closer to the standards of large companies. The minister will thus sign the Working With Cancer charter, in the presence of Arthur Sadoun, the boss of the communication giant Publicis, which had itself made its cancer public and which made this subject a hobbyhorse.
Showing that it is possible to live and work with cancer
The idea is simple: medicine today makes it possible to live and work with a chronic disease. Companies and the administration must accompany this movement. The problem is that in the period, not easy to talk about such a subject. You probably won’t get much media coverage from Minister Guerini’s visit to Cochin Hospital to talk about cancer and public service.
Retirements, tensions in the Assembly, reframings in the government… All that takes up all the space, and it is difficult to talk about other subjects. In recent weeks, the government has multiplied announcements, plans, reforms… But what have the French people really remembered? In political communication, we speak of “bandwidth”. The ability of the general public to hear about a topic. And in the current context, there are not many.