TITLE: “I MAKE A WISH”: THE CAMPAIGN OF THE TWO MAIN FRENCH PATIENT ASSOCIATIONS TO FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION JANUARY 2017

Authors: C.DEFORGES, Policy Manager, N. DOISY Communications Manager

CONTEXT / Background
Today in France, diabetes limits or prevents access to some professions (including, for example: mining engineer, taxi driver, policeman, flight crew, train driver, social security controller and firefighter) and can slow down careers. This is mostly due to regulations made decades ago which are totally disconnected from therapeutic evolutions and current working conditions.

Today, among French people with diabetes:
•	16% feel that they have been discriminated against because of their condition in their professional life, when accessing the job market and during a recruitment procedure .
•	23% feel that they have been discriminated against in their professional life once their diabetes was discovered .
•	33% decided to hide their condition in order not to be discriminated against .
OBJECTIVES/Aims

For years, the Fédération Française des Diabétiques (French Federation of People with Diabetes) and the Aide aux Jeunes Diabétiques (Help for Young People with Diabetes) have been fighting against discrimination at work. On 9 January 2017, they launched a new campaign using an online petition “I make a wish: to choose the job of my dreams with my diabetes” to stop unacceptable professional discrimination against people with diabetes and to change regulations through concrete proposals.

METHOD
The timing was appropriate as France was entering an election period with the renewal of the President of the Republic in May this year. Through the petition, patient associations addressed all candidates, asking ask them to make a commitment to:  
- Review the current discriminatory regulation, especially for jobs working within the police force, as cabin crews, and as engineers
- Move a restrictive a priori framework to one providing access to all professions based on a case-by-case evaluation, especially for insulin-dependent people
- Build an interministerial group to carry out yearly evaluations
- Include these commitments in their programme

RESULTS / IMPACT 
The campaign was extremely successful. As of today:
- 38 023 people have signed the petition (October 2017). 
- + 200 press coverage, thousands of views on social networks,
- + 20 major political and diabetes expert supporters (members of the government or of Parliament, senators, doctors, lawyers, etc.)

On 24 January 2017, the French Health Minister recognized that the current regulations did not match medical reality and the progress of care, and indicated “The Government is in favour of an update of the regulations and a complete revision of aptitude requirements for a certain number of professions for people with diabetes and, if necessary, for other pathologies”. 

DISCUSSIONS / PERSPECTIVES
 “Of course some jobs will still be more difficult to access, said Gérard Raymond, President of the federation, but every case must be checked by a transparent commission which should include all stakeholders: professionals, medical doctors, patient associations and scientific experts. 
The Fédération Française des Diabétiques and the Aide aux Jeunes Diabétiques are encouraging the current government to swiftly change the regulations regarding our demands.

“I make a wish”: the campaign of the two main French patient associations to fight against discrimination