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St. Jude Global

National Cancer Control Planning integrating Children, Adolescents & Young Adults (NCCP iCAYA)

The seven-month National Cancer Control Planning integrating Children, Adolescents & Young Adults (NCCP iCAYA) is a knowledge exchange program hosted by St. Jude Global since 2022 that has engaged 70 ministry-designated teams from 39 countries across all six World Health Organization regions. The program explores real-world scenarios in national programs, policy and legislation through the lens of the CureAll framework, which underpins the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer synthesizing evidence from fields including pediatric oncology, global public health, and policy and systems science. 

 

Bringing together ministry experts, clinicians, civil society and lived experience leaders and advocates, NCCP iCAYA offers guided collective reflection exercises alongside tools to apply systems thinking, fostering communities of practice to transform outcomes meaningfully and sustainably for children, adolescents and young adults everywhere. 

NCCP iCAYA 2026

Applications for the National Cancer Control Planning integrating Children, Adolescents & Young Adults (NCCP iCAYA) Cohort 2026 are now open and will close February 24, 2026. If you are interested in applying to participate in the series, please start by completing the individual online application as early as possible, and no later than the deadline of February 24, 2026.


After the individual Online Application is submitted, one signed Ministry letter and one completed Statement of Collaboration are required per eligible Country Team, by March 3, 2026.  Please note that the signed Ministry letter and the completed  State of Collaboration need to be submitted via email to healthsystems@stjude.org.
 

  1. The seven-month knowledge exchange program* is intended for those actively engaged in childhood cancer control integration and implementation in your country (policy, surveillance, service delivery, etc.) and would be working as part of a Ministry-designated team.

    *Sessions will be conducted March – August 2026 (80 minutes) 7 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. CT (Memphis time), on the fourth Tuesdays of the month, with open Capstone in September 2026 (90 minutes), via Zoom. Sessions will be in English with simultaneous translation anticipated in French/Spanish/Russian, with consideration for additional languages based on the final cohort.

  2. For additional background, please review the one-page overview, along with a sample Ministry template letter and Statement of Collaboration for Participant and Mentor Country teams. Based on the submitted individual online applications, eligible Country Teams and Regional Experts will be contacted. As such, we encourage country teams to submit individual applications as early as possible. Please see the Related Documents menu at the bottom of the page for application materials in English, French and Spanish.

  3. We welcome all interested to join one or both Office Hour sessions in January/February to learn about NCCP iCAYA, and the experiences from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Cohorts. Register here for one or both sessions:
    • Session 1 (January 29, 2026) - Please check this event time in your local time zone here.
    • Session 2 (February 17, 2026) - Please check this event time in your local time zone here.
       

Office Hour sessions will be in English with simultaneous interpretation anticipated in French/Spanish, with consideration for additional languages based on the participants.
 

Please email us at healthsystems@stjude.org with any questions or feedback you may have. 

NCCP iCAYA in Action

  • Thank you NCCP iCAYA community for contributing to ongoing advocacy for childhood cancer and celebrating together the milestone inclusion of childhood cancer and GICC in the recent UNGA political declaration.
  • We appreciated connecting with many of you in the hybrid session on NCCP iCAYA at the WHO Headquarters in May 2025.

Testimonials from participants

Dr. Krishna Paudel

Participation at iCAYA helped us in streamlining and integrating the issues of Children adolescents and young adults in the National Cancer Control Strategy as well as for advocacy. Overall, these efforts were helpful in improving Cancer care in Nepal."

Dr. Krishna Paudel

Chief of Policy, Planning and Monitoring, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal (Cohort: 2024)

Joining the NCCP iCAYA programme in 2023 was a golden opportunity for the Sri Lankan Team as we prepared for the next phase of our NCCP development.​

​The interactive sessions…inspired the Sri Lankan team to further explore integration of childhood cancer care initiatives at each operational level of the Sri Lankan NCCP."

Dr. Suraj Perera

Community Consultant Physician, National Cancer Control Programme, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka (Cohorts: 2023, 2024, 2025)

We would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt appreciation for the exceptional training on the NCCP iCAYA. The team's expertise and commitment to this crucial cause were evident throughout the sessions, making a profound impact on all participants.​​

​The comprehensive information not only enhanced our understanding of childhood cancer but also equipped us with valuable tools to support families and improve patient care. The interactive format fostered a collaborative learning environment.  We are on the way to have a NCCP."

Dr. Theresia Sandra Diah Ratih

Directorate of Non-Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Indonesia (Cohort: 2024)

The NCCP iCAYA series has been an excellent resource for strengthening my work at WHO Nepal, particularly in advancing the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) and the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicine (GPACCM) initiatives. It brought together key stakeholders involved in  service delivery and policymaking, allowing us to collectively discuss country challenges, identify solutions, and build collaboration to improve childhood cancer outcomes.”

 

Dr. Suman Panthi

Childhood Cancer Officer, World Health Organization (Cohorts: 2024, 2025)

 

Related documents

As a reminder, each country team needs to submit one Ministry letter and one participant or mentor collaboration statement, in addition to the individual application.