City Cancer Challenge Foundation

A systems approach to cancer diagnosis and treatment continued to be at the forefront of the City Cancer Challenge Foundation’s (C/Can) support to cities through 2021. Strengthening the quality of health systems was a particular focus of city-led projects, including reducing fragmentation of care by deploying solutions that connect institutions and surveillance systems in Kumasi, Ghana, where a standard pathology reporting system accessible by all pathology departments and laboratories is expected to improve quality pathology diagnosis.

Building on C/Can’s collaboration with Kumasi, in November, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) committed to bolstering efforts to improve cancer care in the city. The project, Strengthening Health Systems Capacities to Meet Local Needs, will be implemented by C/Can and a multisectoral coalition of local stakeholders, with the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) on behalf of the BMZ.

In 2021, C/Can also continued to focus on bridging the gap between policy and practice throughout its cities and working with a wide range of stakeholders and partners to drive change through innovation. For example, in Paraguay, C/Can’s grassroots work helped create the landmark Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer, approved by the government, as well as the mandatory creation of multidisciplinary committees for the care of cancer patients being treated within the public health system. The City of Tomorrow campaign concluded in 2021, with high demand from cities to join C/Can’s global network. Two cities have already joined (Arequipa, Peru, and Nairobi, Kenya), and our network will grow further in 2022.

C/Can received the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NonCommunicable Diseases Award for driving strategies to provide equitable access to NCD and cancer treatment.

citycancerchallenge.org