Claude Tendil is a graduate of Sciences-Po, a former insurer. He has led groups such as AXA, Generali and Europ Assistance. He worked for a long time within the association Dialogues which brings together business leaders and trade unionists, and the Medef where he was responsible for the social pole. Since 2018, Claude Tendil has been the president of the Arc Foundation for cancer research.
franceinfo: In France, every year, 400,000 people are affected by cancer. 160,000 deaths, the leading cause of death in France and yet the means are not up to the task.
Claude Tendil: Research is what will make it possible, not to eradicate cancer, it is impossible, but to find more solutions for more people affected by this terrible disease. Today, it is estimated that 60% of people are cured, we want to reach 65% by 2025 and go beyond, of course.
“Covid-19, in France, killed 140,000 people in two years. During the same period, cancer killed 350,000.”
Claude Tendilat franceinfo
When we look at what has been invested to find solutions to Covid-19, we see that with money, we save time. And for cancer research, it’s the same.
I would like us to come back to the funding possibilities precisely because you need money to advance research, to help researchers find solutions. What are the solutions, in your opinion?
We appeal only to the generosity of the public. Nothing is being asked of the State, neither tax exemptions, nor support and subsidies. We need the legacies that are made on the occasion of the death of such and such a person who gives us all or part of his inheritance or who benefits from life insurance. This allows us regularly, every year, to give around 30 million euros only to research and researchers.
I would just like to know if you have a lot of hope in the future for certain cancers that are serious. We have the impression that things are not moving forward, that we cannot find the solution, whereas for the pandemic, we have found a vaccine.
If I didn’t have faith, I wouldn’t be where I am and I’m here to fight and to raise funds and help researchers. We are fortunate to have people of admirable dedication, skill and commitment. And these people, we have to support them, we have to help them. We try to do it for young people and we try to do it throughout their careers. It is very important to give them the means to work and these means come, of course, from public funding, but necessarily and in a complementary way from the funding that we provide.
“We need the generosity and loyalty of our donors, the trust they have in us.”
Claude Tendilat franceinfo
In addition to helping researchers, we need to educate patients and families. You have, on the Foundation’s website, whatever your cancer or whatever your concern about having cancer, all the most up-to-date information that allows you to understand the treatment you will have, the consequences that this may have, the side effects and the solutions to remedy them.
There are 3 million 800,000 people who get detected…
Who today have, had or are cured of cancer. And in the next ten years, four million people will be affected by more or less serious cancer.
How do you go from insurer to president of the ARC Foundation?
One day, Michel Pébereau, the former president of BNP, president of Arc at the time, called me saying: “Claude, would you be interested in succeeding me?“So I said to him: why not, but let’s talk about it. What does it represent? What does it require? What does it involve? And he found the words to explain the interest and the effectiveness of the role that I could have. He convinced me and I dived in and I am happy about it every day. I hope that the people of the Foundation are also happy about it, but in any case, for my part, I am fully committed to it.
I have the annoying question! Many say: “But the Arc Foundation was hit by embezzlement a few years ago. Why didn’t it change its name and is it better today?”
“After the embezzlement scandal, we changed our statutes from an association to a foundation. The Foundation was audited by the Court of Auditors, which recognized that we were undoubtedly the most exemplary of foundations in France.”
Claude Tendilat franceinfo
I would say that our past obliges us. And I have on my board of directors, out of 12 directors, four representatives of the State. One from the Ministry of Finance, one from the Ministry of Economy, one from the Ministry of Interior and one from the Ministry of Health. You see, we are under the close gaze of the public authorities and we are above all under the gaze of our donors who trust us and who follow us.
Has this new role changed your life?
The answer is yes, but I have always tried to have broad interests, if I may say so. And there, I discovered the medical world, the world of research. I discovered extraordinary, exciting, committed people and supporting them is truly a just cause.