Arthur Sadoun, head of the third largest communication group in the world, Publicis, launched an appeal on Tuesday from Davos to large companies to “break the cancer taboo at work”, a few months after making public his fight against a cancer linked to to the human being human papilloma virus (HPV). ). At 133 Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the office of this international travel regular found his usual appearance in January and a space between a cluttered bookcase and an ejection seat.
But the athletic-looking 51-year-old leader now has a fine scar on his neck and the painful memory of a seven-week preventative treatment of radiation and chemotherapy during which he stood at the head of the French group, surrounded by a medical team. Talking about your cancer, especially when you are the head of a CAC40 group, “is putting your vulnerability in the public square,” Arthur Sadoun testifies in an interview with AFP.
HPV vaccine
“In addition, it happened to me 4 months before my term ended,” specifies the president of the board of directors – renewed for four years last September – who says that “he did violence in the name of transparency.” In a video posted on April 9, Arthur Sadoun appeared emaciated after undergoing surgery to remove “a small tumor.” “All the cancer cells have been eliminated. Today there is nothing to worry about,” he assured on camera.
“I was lucky professionally because it happened at a time when the transformation of Publicis had been left behind. The difficulties we encountered due to the changes we implemented were left behind and the dynamics were excellent. And so I was able to continue leading Publicis,” he analyzes. “And I was ultra-surrounded, be it in my family, the professional environment and by the medical profession”, continues the leader, married to the journalist from France 2 Anne-Sophie Lapix.
For his latest greeting video to the nearly 100,000 Publicis employees, Arthur Sadoun appeared as usual alongside the group’s patriarch, Maurice Lévy, but this time the tone was not joking. “Do you know that 80% of adults have the papillomavirus?” he asks in this clip, before welcoming American actor Michael Douglas, who had fought throat cancer caused by the same virus.
“We had 24 million views on YouTube anyway,” says Arthur Sadoun, who wanted to encourage vaccination against this sexually transmitted virus.
“50% of people are afraid to say it”
But he believes the most “legitimate” fight Publicis can take is at the corporate level. According to a statistic from the French Cancer@Work association, “50% of people are afraid to tell their employer they have cancer.” “When you are in a fight for your life, you should never have to worry about your job”, and the problem is even more serious in the United States (65% of Publicis billing), where covered medical care is provided by the employer, or even in India, recognizes Arthur Sadoun.
According to him, however, it is a “perception problem” because “companies are already doing a lot for people who have chronic diseases.” The advertising group thus undertakes this Tuesday to guarantee the employment and salary of each affected employee for at least one year, and to adapt the working conditions of the sick and caregivers, or assist them during a professional reinsertion. “We don’t want them to lose confidence in their ability to progress within the company,” says the manager.
According to Publicis, which is launching a major communication campaign on the subject, some thirty multinationals, from Walmart to Toyota and L’Oréal, have already responded favorably to this call.
Source: BFM TV
