- New cities come from Latin
America and Africa
- Focused on innovation and sustainability, C/Can supports
cities as they address the growing burden of cancer and improve
equitable access to quality care
- C/Can will be announcing its next call for applications in
2023
GENEVA, Jan. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- City Cancer
Challenge Foundation (C/Can) has announced over the course of this
week the latest cities to join its global network working together
to improve access to quality cancer care: Arequipa (Peru) and Nairobi (Kenya). They bring to 11 the number of cities
that are part of C/Can's mission around the world, alongside
Cali (Colombia), Asuncion (Paraguay), Yangon (Myanmar), Kumasi (Ghana), Kigali (Rwanda), Tbilisi (Georgia), Porto
Alegre (Brazil), Greater
Petaling (Malaysia), and Leon
(Mexico).
The announcements come as C/Can celebrates its third anniversary
as a standalone foundation, and are the first of a series of new
cities scheduled throughout the year to join the organisation.
Welcoming the two new cities, C/Can CEO Dr Susan Henshall said: "C/Can supports cities
to develop solutions, policies and processes that help improve the
lives of cancer patients and strengthen health systems for cancer
care. The global health pandemic has shed more light on the
importance of maintaining a resilient health system to support
patients. In many countries, national health authorities are
struggling to address the pandemic in addition to existing health
challenges. As a result, cities are becoming even more critical in
leading efforts to provide quality cancer care. We look forward to
our next call for applications in 2023."
Rebecca Morton Doherty, C/Can's
Director for Policy and Global Impact, added: "C/Can's
process supports cities to design and execute policies tailored to
local realities. We have seen that cities are granular enough to
effectively coordinate people and resources, but also big enough to
generate systemic, long lasting change that can be scaled and serve
as good practice models."
Transparent due diligence process
Building on C/Can's experience from previous applicant cities,
Arequipa and Nairobi have
undergone a robust, transparent due diligence process over the
course of 2021, allowing C/Can to better understand the local
cancer care landscape, engage with key stakeholders, and assess to
what extent the C/Can model could add value to ongoing cancer care
efforts in the cities.
Located in the south of the country, Arequipa is Peru's second city and has a population of
around one million. According to Globocan, the global cancer
observatory, Peru will close this
year with more than 70,000 new cases in total, up 6% from 2018, and
that by 2040, the figure is expected to reach 125,000.
"Cancer is a growing public health problem in Peru. The
C/Can process presents an important opportunity to continue
building on the momentum and commitment of the recently adopted
cancer law. Arequipa will generate learnings and best practices of
implementation of the law that can be replicated and scaled in
other cities." said Dr Víctor Palacios, Director of the Health
Ministry's National Cancer Prevention and Control Directorate.
Arequipa's application process was led by the Peruvian Oncology
Medicine Society (SPOM) and the Regional Institute for Neoplastic
Diseases - South (IREN Sur).
"Peru, like several other
South American countries, is experiencing remarkable population
growth, ageing, and urbanisation, which has given rise to profound
changes in its epidemiological profile. Being part of C/Can will
help Arequipa, and Peru, as we
scale up our efforts and work across a range of sectors to improve
access to cancer treatment," said Dr Jesús Alberto Rivera, Director of IREN Sur.
In addition to being the capital of Kenya, Nairobi is the East African nation's largest
city, with a population of 4.4 million. Cancer is the third-leading
cause of death in the country after infectious and cardiovascular
diseases. According to the Ministry of Health of Kenya, between 2012 and 2018, the annual
incidence of cancer in Kenya
increased from 37,000 to 47,887 new cases. This number is expected
to rise by more than 120% over the next two decades according to
Globocan. The Nairobi application
process was led by the Kenyan Network of Cancer Organisations.
Commenting on Nairobi's
membership, Christine Mugo-Sitati,
Executive Director of KENCO said: "Joining C/Can represents a major
step forward in our work to improve access to better cancer care
and reflects a nationwide commitment to addressing our country's
growing cancer burden."
Lt. Gen Mohamed Badi, Director
General of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services added:
"Effective cancer prevention and control calls for a
multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach. Working with C/Can
will greatly contribute to better collaboration with non-state
actors to reduce the incidence of cancer and improve the quality of
care for those who develop cancer in Kenya."
Next steps
Over the next three months these two cities will work closely
with C/Can on recruiting a locally based city manager to coordinate
activity, while developing a memorandum of understanding to outline
the roles and responsibilities of all key stakeholders,
establishing a timeline of activities and milestones.
This will then be followed by the launch of the City Engagement
Process, whereby over the course of two-to-three years, local
stakeholders will identify, plan and execute priority cancer
care solutions adapted to the city's resources.
The City of Tomorrow
C/Can launched the City of Tomorrow Campaign in February 2020, inviting cities from around the
world to join a growing, multisectoral community. In response, 14%
of cities invited to apply came from Eastern Europe; 33% from Africa; 19% from Asia; 10% from MENA; and 24% from Latin America.
Around 100 civil society organisations supported their cities'
bids to join the City Cancer Challenge initiative. Shortlisted
cities were then invited to complete a more detailed application,
which was followed by a robust due diligence process.
Alongside Nairobi and Arequipa,
there is a wider shortlisted group of cities from all regions still
undergoing due diligence, progressing along different timelines
based on the timing of on-site visits, the cities' overall
readiness and the schedule for C/Can's organisational
decision-making.
About City Cancer Challenge
C/Can supports cities around the world as they work to improve
access to equitable, quality cancer care. Since its launch in 2017
by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), C/Can has
developed a new model of addressing access to cancer care that, for
the first time, leverages the city as a key enabler in a health
systems response to cancer.
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Media contacts: press@citycancerchallenge.org