Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, PS mayor of Rouen, announces that he has bladder cancer

POLITICS – The PS mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol revealed this Wednesday, November 13 that he had been suffering from bladder cancer for several years. If he had insisted on remaining silent until now, he now explains that he is making his illness public so that “health issues are better understood, recognized and supported. »

It was in a letter published on X that the socialist councilor announced his illness. Diagnosed in 2022, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol explains having undergone several operations and immunotherapy treatment, the last of which must end “in a few days”he explains. “I didn’t want to talk about it publicly earlier. This type of cancer generally affects older men, smokers or those who have worked in the hydrocarbon world. Not my profile. So I thought it was 'bad luck', a one-off event that would quickly be behind me. This is not the case »confides the chosen one.

According to the Ameli website, bladder cancer is the 7th most common cancer in France. It predominantly affects men, in more than 81% of cases, and people over 60 years old.

Lift the “taboo” on “a scary word”

If it had repercussions « important » about his private life, “the illness has in no way prevented me from working or acting for the city of Rouen, its Metropolis and more broadly my country and the convictions that I hold”assures the mayor in office. On the contrary.

Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol explains that he decided to speak out, in the context of the breast cancer awareness months (Pink October) and male cancers (Movember), to raise a “taboo”on a disease that “scary”, « islands » and that we sometimes choose to keep silent about fears of repercussions on our professional life.

“I wanted to express myself transparently to (…) express, beyond my personal situation, my desire to act so that these health issues are better understood, recognized and supported”, he insists, calling for more investment in research, to promote the work of nursing staff and caregivers and not to neglect the link between certain cancers and “poor environmental health: air, water, diet, physical regime”. As an example, he announced the launch in Rouen and its metropolis of a “ action plan for agents ».

Within the Socialist Party, many elected officials welcomed “ courage » by Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol facing illness and speaking out. “Cancer should no longer be a taboo. Thank you for the example and the hope, thank you for your words for the nursing staff”reacted on X the First Secretary of the party Olivier Faure. “Saying the most intimate is also a way of speaking to everyone. We must talk about the illness because every word helps break the isolation of many patients”also greeted the former Minister of Health, now Place Publique deputy, Aurélien Rousseau.

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