Washington, D.C., October 8, 2026 — On September 29, 2026, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) welcomed a delegation from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to its Washington, D.C. headquarters to enhance bilateral cooperation on childhood cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The visit concluded with a high-level event, alongside the PAHO Directing Council that was taking place that same week, where the Government of El Salvador honored Dr. Carlos Rodríguez-Galindo, Executive Vice President, Chair of the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, and Director of St. Jude Global, for his leadership at both regional and global levels.
The St. Jude delegation met with PAHO leadership and technical teams from the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Department, External Relations and Partnerships, Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies, Regional Revolving Funds, and Procurement and Supply Management. They reviewed progress and key lessons from the PAHO–St. Jude partnership in three areas: implementation of the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) and the CureAll framework; support for national childhood cancer plans; and the WHO–St. Jude Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines (GPACCM), which PAHO is implementing through its Regional Revolving Funds under a 2023–2027 agreement, that currently operates in Ecuador and El Salvador.
The discussion also addressed the next cohort of GPACCM countries and the planned expansion of GICC across the Region through 2030, and identified more priority areas to expand the collaboration, such as technical cooperation and capacity building with Member States; regional manufacturing capacity; and market shaping to expand access to quality-assured childhood cancer medicines through the Regional Revolving Funds.
High-Level Event: “Accelerating Childhood Cancer Care in the Americas”
That evening, the Ministry of Health of El Salvador, PAHO, and St. Jude convened the high-level event “Accelerating Childhood Cancer Care in the Americas: Strengthening Health Systems, Expanding Access, and Advancing Regional Collaboration” at the Art Museum of the Americas. With the participation of H.E. Dr. Francisco José Alabí Montoya, Minister of Health of El Salvador; Dr. Anselm Hennis, PAHO; and Dr. Carlos Rodríguez-Galindo, St. Jude, the event highlighted the importance of strengthening health systems, expanding access, and advancing regional collaboration to improve childhood cancer care in the Americas.
Dr. Liliana Vásquez, PAHO Technical Officer for Childhood Cancer, presented the Region’s progress toward achieving the global target of at least 60% survival for children with cancer by 2030. This progress was also an opportunity to recognize the leadership and contributions of those working to strengthen childhood cancer care in the Region. "The Americas have demonstrated that regional collaboration can accelerate change at scale. Since 2018, the number of countries with national childhood cancer plans has more than doubled—from 6 to 15—and countries with early diagnosis policies have increased from 4 to 13. Today, 20 countries are engaged in CureAll Americas, supported by 95 national and 78 regional projects, while more than 210,000 health professionals have been trained to improve outcomes for children with cancer", said Liliana.
The Government of El Salvador presented Dr. Carlos Rodríguez-Galindo with a special award recognizing how, under his direction, St. Jude Global has helped countries in Latin America and worldwide strengthen childhood cancer programs, train health workers, and improve survival rates for children and adolescents with cancer.
St. Jude is the first and only WHO Collaborating Center for Childhood Cancer. Building on this longstanding collaboration, PAHO and St. Jude will continue strengthening their partnership to advance childhood cancer programs, expand access to quality-assured medicines, and improve survival rates for children and adolescents with cancer across the Region.
