Press & Facts
Verified data and resources for journalists, partners and researchers. All figures are confirmed from official FNRS and TELEVIE Belgium sources.
TELEVIE in Exact Numbers
Total raised in Belgium (1989–2025)
€266 million+
Source: FNRS / televie.be
Last edition Liège 2026
€13,459,073.87
Source: TELEVIE Liège 2026
Researchers funded (total)
3,043
Source: FNRS Belgium
Research projects funded
2,939
Source: FNRS Belgium
Years of activity
35+ (since 1989)
Source: TELEVIE Belgium
Childhood leukaemia recovery rate
92% (vs 40% in 1970)
Source: FNRS / oncological publications
Founder
Prof. Arsène Burny (born 1933)
Source: Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
Romania launch
Cluj-Napoca, 2026
Source: TELEVIE Romania
What is TELEVIE?
TELEVIE is Belgium's largest oncological solidarity programme, founded in December 1988 by Prof. Arsène Burny (born 1933, Mellery, Belgium) in partnership with RTL Belgium and FNRS (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique). The programme's first edition was broadcast on RTL Belgium in April 1989, with childhood leukaemia as the terrain of solidarity.
From 1989 to 2025, TELEVIE has raised over €266 million, funding 3,043 researchers and 2,939 research projects in fundamental and applied oncology. The childhood leukaemia recovery rate has risen from 40% in the 1970s to 92% today — a progress partly attributed to research funded by TELEVIE-FNRS.
The most recently documented edition, TELEVIE Liège 2026, raised €13,459,073.87 — a record sum displayed publicly at the awards gala.
Prof. Arsène Burny (born 1933) is an agronomic engineer from Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (1958), holds a PhD in Zoological Sciences from ULB, and was Associate Professor at Columbia University in New York (1968–1972). He has published 350+ scientific papers in oncology and virology, presided over the TELEVIE-FNRS Commission from 1989 to 2025, and led the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium (2006). In December 2025, a wing of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech was renamed in his honour.
TELEVIE Romania launches in 2026 in Cluj-Napoca, with the vision of a cancer centre modelled on the Institut de Cancérologie Arsène Burny at CHU Liège. Further details on institutional partnerships will be announced at the official launch.
35+ Years of TELEVIE History
Prof. Arsène Burny proposes the TELEVIE programme concept during a lunch with the RTL Belgium team.
First TELEVIE broadcast on RTL Belgium. Childhood leukaemia — first terrain of solidarity. First amount raised: several million Belgian francs.
TELEVIE funds its first research grants through FNRS (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique).
TELEVIE exceeds 100 funded researchers. Scope expanded to multiple cancer types.
TELEVIE marks 1,000 funded projects. Cumulative total reaches 50 million Belgian francs.
Prof. Burny becomes President of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.
TELEVIE surpasses €10 million raised in a single edition.
Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech wing renamed in honour of Prof. Burny. TELEVIE reaches €266M+ total since 1989.
Official launch of TELEVIE Romania in Cluj-Napoca, with the vision of a European-standard cancer centre.
Authoritative Links
All information on this site is verified through official sources. Consult the links below for complete documentation.
Press Contact
For interviews, statements, photographs or additional information, contact the TELEVIE Romania team.