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The initiative ACT for Children

A collaborative initiative uniting industry, the medical community and patient advocacy groups to close the survival gap for children with cancer.

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Background

Equity in childhood cancer care

The survival gap in pediatric cancer is driven by unequal access, not curability. Bridging it is vital for global health and future treatment innovation.

The disparity in childhood cancer outcomes is one of the world’s most pressing health inequities. While over 80% of children with cancer are cured in high-income countries (HICs), survival drops to less than 30% in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This gap is not due to a lack of curative potential, but rather to unequal access to the essential resources, treatments, and care that determine survival.

These inequities affect more than just the children living in LMICs – they also hinder global progress in pediatric oncology research and development (R&D). Without including the 80% of children who live in LMICs, we limit our ability to develop better, less toxic, and more effective treatments.

Closing the health equity gap is not only a moral imperative  – it is essential for scientific advancement.

Young child receiving cancer treatment and care in a hospital supported by ACT for Children.

The greatest indicator of cure for children with cancer is where they live

In Low- & Middle-Income
Countries
3 out of 10 are cured
In High Income
Countries

8 out of 10 are cured

how the initiative works

ACT for sustainable cancer care

ACT for Children unites hospitals, industry, and patient management experts to deliver locally adapted, sustainable cancer care and expand access to lifesaving medicines in LMICs.
A presenter pointing at a slide during a training session with medical staff in attendance.

ACT for Children is a multi-stakeholder effort that brings together industry, clinicians, and patient advocates to build the full ecosystem needed to cure a child with cancer. The initiative expands access to innovator medicines – previously inaccessible in LMICs due to regulatory and cost barriers – within a hospital-based quality improvement model.

ACT supports the full continuum of care: timely diagnosis, skilled providers, adapted treatment protocols, nutrition and psychosocial support, and comprehensive training. Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all approach, ACT works directly with hospitals to co-develop locally appropriate solutions. The model ensures every intervention is integrated, measurable, and sustainable.

ACT for Children also generates clinical guidance, monitors real-world outcomes, and informs national policy and investment – paving a bridge to long-term access through the WHO’s Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines (Global Platform) which aims to provide an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured cancer medicines in LMICs.

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The ACT hospital-centered model

Access to quality-assured innovator medicines

Expert medical management

Patient-centered supportive care

Over the past three decades, we’ve learned that innovative medicines do not naturally reach children in LMICs. In fact, the absence of curative therapies – and the awareness that they exist – has fueled the spread of counterfeit and substandard drugs. These products undermine trust, compromise treatment, and pose a danger to children everywhere. To address this, the industry must create access pathways that remove financial barriers and ensure safe, effective use of quality-assured medicines.

Portrait of Dr. Arnaud Lallouette, Servier VP, highlighting the need for safe access to cancer medicines in LMICs.

Dr Arnaud Lallouette

Executive Vice-president Servier Global Medical and Patient Affairs

how the initiative works

Building systems, saving children

From diagnosis to policy, ACT strengthens hospital systems to ensure children in LMICs receive the right care, at the right time, with the right medicines.
Implementation timeline

Global Rollout, Local Impact

ACT for Children is launching in key hospitals across Africa, Asia, and Latin America – building a global care network one region, one child, one system at a time.

Q1 2025

  • Armenia: Yeolyan Hematology-Oncology Center, Yerevan
  • El Salvador: Ayúdame Vivir Foundation’s Child Cancer Center at the Hospital Benjamin Bloom/Centro Medico, San Salvador
  • Guatemala: Unidad Nacional de Oncología Pediátrica, Guatemala City

Q2 2025

  • Indonesia: Dharmais National Cancer Hospital, Jakarta
  • Honduras: Children’s Hospital of Tegucigalpa

Q3 2025

  • Tanzania
  • Egypt

Q4 2025

  • Burkina Faso
  • Ivory Coast

2026

  • South Africa
  • Pakistan