Siemens, City Cancer Challenge Expand Partnership to Support Projects in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Siemens Healthineers and City Cancer Challenge (C/Can) are expanding the geographical and technological scope of their partnership for the long term, building on their existing collaboration to enable more timely cancer diagnosis and treatment, and increase survivorship for patients in low- and middle-income countries. The expansion of the partnership builds on a long-standing collaboration between C/Can and cancer-care provider Varian, which is now a Siemens Healthineers company.

Global medical-technology company Siemens Healthineers is committing CHF 5 million over the next five years to help close gaps in the pathway from first cancer symptoms to diagnosis to treatment, improving access to quality cancer care and gender health equity. C/Can works with city stakeholders from the public and private sectors to improve access to cancer care from the ground up in low-and middle-income countries, and currently has projects in 14 cities in the Americas, Africa and Asia. Siemens Healthineers will contribute its expertise in technology infrastructure and digitalization to improve patient management and track the quality of cancer care, linking cities to share knowledge gained as the projects progress.

“It is only by committing to locally driven, globally supported cancer solutions over the long term that we can come closer to making equitable access to quality cancer care a reality for everyone,” said Siemens Healthineers Chief Executive Bernd Montag.

The partnership aims to improve cancer treatment outcomes and equity in four main ways: minimizing the time gap from first symptoms to diagnosis; workforce training; patient-management technology; and helping more women to attain leadership roles in healthcare.  

Great strides have been made in reducing cancer deaths in high-income countries, with a fall of 40 percent in breast-cancer deaths alone between 1990 and 20201. But this progress has left behind low- and middle-income countries, where mortality rates are rising, according to the World Health Organization, as populations grow larger and become older. To address this, it is crucial to partner with local players who best understand their particular needs and challenges.

“What works in one place in the world doesn’t work in another place so we need to come up with contextualized solutions,” said C/Can Chief Executive Isabel Mestres.

The partnership has expanded over the years to include cooperation in cancer treatment, diagnostics, digital health and patient management, and real progress is evident towards our goal in the Colombian city of Cali of reducing the time from first symptoms to cancer diagnosis. In this first phase, diagnosis will be confirmed sooner so treatment can be initiated earlier, which can make the difference between life and death. 

The extended partnership, signed by Montag and Mestres on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Wednesday, is also focusing on women’s cancers and female leadership in cancer care to improve health equity. Women on average spend 25% more of their life in poor health than men, according to a new WEF report, limiting their participation not only in society but also the economy. 

In addition, the two organizations will develop training programs in diagnostics and radiotherapy to ensure healthcare professionals have the skills needed to deliver quality care. They will also expand the Cali project into the surrounding Valle de Cauca region, and insights gained will be used to inform existing and future projects.