Isabel Mestres, CEO of City Cancer Challenge, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Global health is finally moving where it matters most.
Flying out from the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, what stayed with me is clear: local leaders are not just voicing challenges they are putting forward concrete plans to move from ODA dependence to true local ownership.
Equally energizing was engaging with partners like Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with whom we are shaping exciting joint initiatives!!
But one moment stood out.
Hosting Bernd Montag the CEO of Siemens Healthineers in Nairobi and witnessing a kind of leadership we need more of. The kind that, despite today’s financial pressures, chooses to fly to the ground and listen to who matters most.
What he heard was a system improvement in motion: 11 locally led projects in active implementation since July 2025, a team deeply committed to making cancer care work better for patients, and early signs of progress already pointing in the right direction.
Listening to clinicians, nurses, civil society, patients, and governments, not just to understand their challenges, but to learn from the solutions they are already advancing.
Because that’s what it takes to ensure breakthroughs don’t just exist for a few, but reach everyone, everywhere.
This is the kind of partner we believe in. And the kind of leadership that will truly move global health forward. Grateful to witness it and thanks to Tisha Boatman and her team for keep pushing, together!”
Other articles featuring Isabel Mestres on OncoDaily.
