24 October 2025, Concepción, Chile – Concepción has reached an important milestone in its journey to strengthen cancer care: the completion and endorsement of a comprehensive Needs Assessment. Conducted under the initiative of City Cancer Challenge (C/Can), this process lays the groundwork for sustainable, evidence-based solutions designed by and for the local community.
Building the Evidence Base
To capture an accurate picture of the city’s cancer care capacity, Concepción conducted a Needs Assessment that mobilised over 70 professionals, 14 health institutions, 5 civil society organisations, and 373 patients. Collectively, these stakeholders represent more than 80% of the city’s oncology care ecosystem, ensuring the findings reflect the real conditions and needs on the ground. Together, they contributed data, expertise, and lived experience to identify both strengths and pressing gaps in the cancer care system. The findings will serve as the foundation for planning and implementing solutions adapted to local realities, ensuring ownership and long-term sustainability.
Since joining C/Can in 2024, Concepción has established a two-tier governance structure to lead the initiative:
- The City Executive Committee (CEC), composed of key decision-makers from public and private institutions, provides strategic direction and endorses key decisions, priorities and activities.
- The City Technical Committee (CTC), made up of local cancer care experts, coordinates technical work and convenes thematic working groups across specialties such as pathology, surgery, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy, among others.
This collaborative leadership model ensures ownership, transparent decision-making and accountability throughout the process.
Insights from the Needs Assessment
Supported by C/Can in collaboration with the Biobío Regional Ministry of Health, the results of the Needs Assessment were reviewed by thematic working groups covering: City Health Systems, Institutional Management, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Pathology, Clinical Laboratory, Systemic Treatment, Paediatric Oncology, Radiotherapy, Surgery, and Palliative Care. These sessions took place during this week (20-24th October).
These results and analyses were then presented to the City Technical Committee in the morning, which provided additional technical oversight and finalised the findings to develop clear recommendations and proposed actions for presentation to the City Executive Committee.
“The inclusiveness of this process is its greatest strength. By bringing together clinicians, policymakers, patients, academia, and civil society, we now have a complete picture of Concepción’s cancer care landscape. This gives us the confidence to design solutions that are both realistic and deeply rooted in local needs,” – Dr. Paola Olate, Head of the Cancer Responsibility Center at Hospital Guillermo Grant Benavente and member of the City Technical Committee.
From Assessment to Action
Today’s presentation of the final Needs Assessment report to the City Executive Committee represents the culmination of the assessment phase. After reviewing the report and the prioritised actions and recommendations from the City Technical Committee, the City Executive Committee endorsed the report and its set of priorities, which will guide the next phase of the City Engagement Process Framework, where locally-adapted solutions will be co-created and implemented.
“The Needs Assessment, carried out through City Cancer Challenge with broad participation from government and health institutions, civil society organisations, and patients, provides a fundamental basis for public policy aimed at designing, developing, and strengthening strategies and actions that enhance the oncology response in the region; taking a comprehensive approach that includes health promotion, prevention, early detection, and access to treatment.” said Javiera Ceballos Aedo, Regional Secretary of Health (S) and Chair of the City Executive Committee.
Looking Ahead to Sustainable Impact
The endorsement of the Needs Assessment marks the beginning of the next phase: developing targeted, locally-adapted solutions to close identified gaps and strengthen cancer care in Concepción. Priorities include enhancing diagnostic services, investing in workforce capacity, strengthening financing mechanisms, and ensuring equitable access to treatment and palliative care.
“This assessment is more than a starting point: it is a roadmap for turning analysis into action, with solutions crafted by those who know Concepción’s health system and its people living with cancer best. When data is paired with a shared purpose, it drives true transformation. Concepción is showing how local collaboration and joint leadership can turn evidence into action and commitment into sustainable results,” highlighted Miguel Ángel Jiménez, C/Can City Manager for Concepción.
