ENGAGE : Equitable, Needs-Based Gender-Responsive Access for Global Equity in Cancer Care

Transforming Cancer Care Through Gender Equity
ENGAGE is a structured framework designed to integrate gender-responsive and people-centered approaches into cancer care systems, ensuring that cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship support are equitable, inclusive, and sustainable.

By generating evidence, empowering local stakeholders, and driving global advocacy, ENGAGE addresses systemic inequities in access to cancer care, particularly for women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The framework is currently being implemented in León (Mexico), Nairobi (Kenya), and Tbilisi (Georgia)—three diverse urban settings where gender-related disparities impact cancer outcomes.

Developed by Global Focus on Cancer (GFC) with support from Eli Lilly and Co., ENGAGE plays a key role in advancing City Cancer Challenge (C/Can)’s broader gender-equity framework. It ensures that gender equity is not treated as an add-on, but as a core principle in cancer care reform.

ENGAGE Framework: A Model for Impact
E.N.G.A.G.E. Acronym
E – Equitable solutions to address disparities in cancer care access.
N – Needs-based approaches tailored to individuals, families, and communities.
G – Gender-responsive strategies that prioritize fairness and inclusivity.
A – Access to quality cancer prevention, treatment, and support services.
G – Global focus on impactful, sustainable interventions.
E – Equity at the core of research, advocacy, and implementation.

Key Focus Areas

Engage Communities
Empower women as active participants in co-creating solutions, ensuring interventions are locally relevant, culturally appropriate, and sustainable.
Recognize and integrate lived experience—ensuring that the voices of women affected by cancer inform policy and program development.

Implement Gender-Responsive Strategies
Address gender disparities by prioritizing policies and interventions that remove barriers to early detection, treatment, and supportive care.
Embed equity, inclusivity, and accessibility in healthcare systems, ensuring that cancer care meets the needs of diverse populations.

Scale for Broader Impact
Use research-driven insights to guide national-level adoption and integration into broader health equity efforts.
Expand beyond cancer care—leveraging lessons learned to influence gender equity in healthcare more broadly.

A Gender-Responsive Research & Implementation Framework
ENGAGE applies a structured gender analysis, research methodology, and action-based interventions to identify and address barriers that women face in accessing cancer care. The framework ensures that policies and programs are:
Rooted in evidence – Generating granular data on gender disparities and social determinants of health.
People-centered – Addressing the needs of individuals, families, and communities in a dignified and inclusive manner.
Sustainable – Ensuring that interventions create lasting change, both in cancer care and the broader health system.

Positioning ENGAGE in the Global Movement for Cancer Equity
ENGAGE is more than a project—it is part of a movement to ensure fairness and equitable access for women in all aspects of cancer care. By aligning with global health frameworks, ENGAGE contributes to systemic reforms that center on the dignity, agency, and empowerment of people affected by cancer.

Strategic Objectives of ENGAGE
Evidence Generation – Build a comprehensive understanding of gender-based barriers in cancer care through data-driven research.
Capacity Building – Equip civil society organizations (CSOs), healthcare providers, and policymakers with the tools to integrate gender-responsive, people-centered approaches into practice.
Policy & Advocacy – Disseminate findings to inform systemic reforms, influence policy decisions, and drive global advocacy for equitable cancer care.

Through collaboration with City Cancer Challenge Foundation and local stakeholders, ENGAGE is shaping the future of gender-equitable cancer care—recognizing that when we lift up the most vulnerable, we strengthen entire health systems, creating a more just and inclusive society where every person receives care that respects their needs and preferences.

Why ENGAGE Matters
Gender equity is essential for health equity—women continue to face unique barriers to cancer care that must be addressed at a systemic level.
People-centered care leads to better outcomes—ensuring that lived experience is not just considered, but central to policy and program design.
Advocacy backed by evidence creates impact—ENGAGE strengthens civil society’s role in policy change, ensuring that gender-responsive solutions are prioritized in national and global health agendas.

Through ENGAGE, research becomes action, and advocacy becomes policy.