Following the death of her son Guillaume from cancer, Maria MENICACCI-FERRAIN wrote to Madame Brigitte MACRON to request an appointment, which was granted. She went to the Elysée on Thursday, December 21, accompanied by Dr Marie CASTETS (researcher, INSERM) and Stéphane VEDRENNE (co-founder of Eva pour la vie) to discuss the issues of funding research in pediatric oncology and family assistance .
The exchange was very constructive. Ms. Macron has shown exceptional listening, without a pre-conceived idea and by focusing on the facts: each year, 500 children die of cancer in France (6,000 in Europe). This figure has not declined for 15 years.
We discussed the work of the former MP (and teacher) Martine Faure. We gave him the report of the pediatric cancer parliamentary study group, of which Ms. Faure was the chair.
We discussed the need to create a fund dedicated to research on cancers and incurable diseases of children with an earmarked budget, which would be complementary to the funds allocated to general research. We discussed the recent rejection of the amendment by LREM deputy Benoit Simian.
Very human, she was very attached to knowing the stories of Guillaume and Eva to better understand the difficulties encountered by the families. Ms. Macron is all the more sensitive and down to earth as she has known, as a teacher, several students who have died of cancer. She pays personal attention to this subject, which gives us hope for concrete progress.
