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Strengthening systems mental health through transnational partnerships and the role of the global community in addressing childhood inequalities cancer were discussed in detail today in the context of SNF Nostos Conference 2026.
“Strengthening mental health systems is not the responsibility of just one institution, one country or one sector. Around the world, countries face similar challenges in child and adolescent mental health, but solutions often differ by context, country, partnerships and resources. What we’ve learned is that scientific data alone is not enough,” said Kayla Coetzer, member of the Youth Committee of the SNF Global Center in South Africa, in her introduction. He went on to say that “research helps us understand needs, set priorities and see what works. But research only becomes meaningful when it is translated into action through strong partnerships between governments, researchers, communities, professionals and young people themselves.”
In the discussion, experts from Greece, Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique analyzed how partnerships can create sustainable solutions. A common finding was that scientific data acquires value only when it is put into practice in the local community. “In Greece, the challenge was never just the availability of services. It is about what happens before the child arrives at a service. Can we spot difficulties early enough? Can we respond in a coordinated way?” asked Aspasia Serdari, director of the Child Psychiatry Clinic at the University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, who participates in the Scientific Coordinating Committee of the Initiative for the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents (SNF-CMI CAMHI). This initiative seeks to unite fragmented services with the ultimate goal of improving the mental health of children and adolescents across the country. “The goal is not to bring the child into the system, but to bring the system around the child,” he noted.
Accordingly, countries with fewer resources are forced to find their own innovative solutions. In Mozambique, through collaborations with institutions in developed countries (USA, Portugal, Brazil), the system relies heavily on the training of “psychiatry technicians” due to the great shortage of psychiatrists. “It’s a model where psychiatrists train and supervise ‘psychiatry technicians.’ These professionals are trained for two and a half years and can diagnose and treat common mental disorders, as well as epilepsy, which is a big problem in our country. Today, these technicians provide care throughout the country, mainly at the Primary Health Care level, allowing us to expand access to services,” said Lídia Gouveia, psychiatrist at the Mozambique Institute of Health, Education and Research.
In Brazil, as Welson Luiz da Costa Santos, director general of Planning at the Executive Secretariat for Educational Development of Brazil, said, schools have become youth support centers by integrating mental health indicators into the education system. He recalled the words of Paulo Freire: “Education cannot change the world. Education changes people. And people change the world.”
Disparity in childhood cancer
In the second panel, the reality of childhood cancer came into focus. “Worldwide, over 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. For the 10% of children living in high-income countries, the cure rate exceeds 80%. But for the 90% who live in low- and middle-income countries, survival often remains below 30%. This difference is not acceptable, but it is not inevitable either. For a child, healing is not just about medicine or surgery. It’s about the whole system of care around him,” said Andrew Kung, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Highlighting this injustice, pediatric oncologist at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital Jennifer Geel from South Africa said: “If that number (80% of children treated) dropped to 40% in developed countries, there would be an uprising. Government and society would intervene. But this is not the case in low-income countries. Our children are dying and the problem is huge.”
The speakers explained that healing does not depend only on drugs, but is an inclusive chain early diagnosis, referral networks and supportive care. “With strong supportive care, the family gains the confidence to stay in the system,” said Ms. Maria Kourtis, assistant professor of Pediatrics-Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
For his part, Mr. Guillermo Chantada, head of the Extraversion Program of the Pediatric Cancer Center at the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, asserted: “Research is not a luxury, it is a necessity. It is not enough to simply copy the treatments of the big American hospitals. These treatments must be tailored to the socioeconomic determinants of health in each region.”
