Inspiring Solutions: The ICCD 2025 Campaign Aims to Break Barriers and Share Learnings

Carina Schneider, Managing Director of Childhood Cancer International Europe, shares insights into the evolution of this global initiative, its objectives for the coming year, and the importance of including diverse voices to transform the landscape of childhood cancer care.

What were the key results of the 2024 campaign?
The year 2024 was a remarkable one, offering valuable insights into the challenges faced by the childhood cancer community worldwide. The results are available on the website, but if you followed the Gold September campaign (jointly shared by CCI and SIOP), you likely came across significant findings. Among these, the top challenges identified globally were "access to care," "cost of treatment," and "early diagnosis."

One particularly striking insight was that "access to care" ranked among the top three challenges in every region. This issue may mean different things depending on the region—such as geographic constraints, lack of equipment, or trained personnel—but ultimately it reflects a major inequality: not every child with cancer has access to the care they need, and where you are born remains a crucial factor in the treatment you receive.

Can you briefly explain the objectives of this 3-year campaign?
When we started designing the campaign, our main goal was to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by childhood cancer patients, caregivers, survivors, healthcare professionals, and researchers worldwide. This information provides valuable perspective, inspires action, and highlights the importance of collaboration.

By working together, we can build a legacy of awareness, action, and positive change in childhood cancer care. CCI is committed to creating a world where every child with cancer receives the best treatment and care—and this campaign is an important step toward that vision.

What is the ultimate goal of the ICCD campaign for 2025?
One of CCI's founding values is "We care, we share," because the organization's early members believed that progress requires sharing best practices, supporting one another, and collaborating globally.

Following this spirit, the 2025 campaign focuses on sharing and discovering solutions. The idea is simple: what has worked for one organization, town, or community might be a valuable solution for others facing similar challenges.

We are not only looking for large-scale projects but also small initiatives that helped a few people and could potentially help many more in the future. By the campaign’s end, we aim to create a library of initiatives from around the world—a resource to inspire and guide others facing similar challenges.

How do you ensure the inclusion of diverse voices, such as survivors and policymakers, in the campaign?
Including diverse voices is essential to accurately represent the reality we face. That’s why we engage a variety of groups, including survivors, patient and parent organizations, advocacy groups, healthcare professionals, and international agencies.

Thanks to longstanding partnerships between CCI, SIOP, the WHO, and other global stakeholders, we can reach a broad audience and encourage their engagement in this campaign.

Can you share a standout success story or impactful initiative from the campaign? What challenges do you face when promoting equal access to care for children with cancer globally?
One major challenge is the variety of inequalities faced depending on different regional or national realities. Advocating for equitable access on a global scale requires adaptable approaches that can fit diverse healthcare settings and cultures.

This is where CCI's continental branches play a crucial role by tailoring solutions to each country's needs. For example, during the ICCD campaign, we encouraged participating organizations to customize their communications locally—some focused on online campaigns, while others hosted in-person events.

To support these efforts, we provided digital materials alongside customizable postcards and posters, helping organizations spread the message in the most effective way for their communities.

How can individuals and organizations get involved in the campaign moving forward?
The first step is simple: participate. Since February 1st, you can submit a digital postcard at iccd.care, sharing an initiative that addressed a challenge.

Additionally, help us spread the word! Share content, post about the initiative, and organize events to raise awareness and advocate for tangible actions that reduce inequalities.

Our media pack provides a variety of resources to support participation, and we translated it into several languages to reach as many people as possible. The key is to take action—big or small.

What message would you like to send to those who are not yet involved, and how can they contribute to making a difference?
My message is simple: We need you! Everyone can contribute to reducing inequalities.

Even a simple "like" or "share" on social media can help spread the message to more people. Don’t underestimate the power of small actions—it takes many small ripples to create a wave.