Miriam Mutebi, Consultant Breast Surgical Oncologist, Immediate Past President of AORTIC- Africa, and UICC Board Member, shared on LinkedIn:
“This was one of the reflections I shared on DAY 2 at the World Health Summit. It was during a thought-provoking panel on Women’s Health at the Core of Resilience: Scaling Innovative Solutions for Stronger Systems.
What does resilience really mean for women navigating our healthcare systems?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions to surgical services forced us to rethink cancertreatment pathways.
For selected women with breast cancer, endocrine therapy offered an alternative while awaiting surgery. Yet in some African settings, even basic medicines such as tamoxifen were not reliably available. A clinically sound solution is only as good as the system’s ability to deliver it.
We also explored integration, particularly in cervical cancer elimination.
We have the tools for prevention, screening and treatment, yet services often remain fragmented across immunisation, HIV, primary care and oncology programmes. Women dont experience healthcare in silos. Why do we insist on delivering it that way?
Kenya’s WICS initiative offers a practical example of bringing breast and cervical cancer screening together with other essential primary healthcare services. In 2025, over 5,000 women were screened through this integrated approach.
However, integration is not simply putting services under one roof. It requires ensuring women can move from screening to timely diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.
We need to move beyond counting interventions, technologies and people screened, to measuring whether women actually receive and complete effective care.
Access is a pathway, not a product.
My thanks to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) for the opportunity to participate, to Daiichi Sankyo for convening the session, and to Dr Melinda Crane-Röhrs for her thoughtful moderation.
What a pleasure sharing the stage with fellow panellists from across healthcare, academia, civil society and industry.
Day 2 was a perfect reminder that resilient health systems are the ones that continue to deliver equitable, effective care when those conditions change. A breakthrough is not a breakthrough if the patient never reaches it.”
You can also read: UICC Invites Participants to Register for World Health Summit Event on Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion
