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Pact awarded contract to evaluate American Cancer Society’s Global SPARK Initiative
Pact was recently awarded a contract by the American Cancer Society* to lead the independent evaluation of the organization’s Global SPARK Initiative, a six-year effort to strengthen cancer patient navigation in Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria. Launched earlier this year in February 2025, SPARK aims to improve how people living with cancer access, navigate, and benefit from care in health systems across low- and middle-income countries.
Through this work, Pact will evaluate how SPARK is improving patient-centered care, strengthening coordination among public health institutions and cancer organizations, and shaping policies for sustainable integration of navigation in health systems. The evaluation will include baseline, midline, and endline studies, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to assess progress and capture system-level outcomes.
“With cancer cases rapidly rising globally, we’re excited to work with the American Cancer Society on the SPARK Initiative,” says Shirley Ko, Pact’s senior director of global health and project manager for the award. “As an independent evaluator, we’ll look at how the initiative strengthens health systems to support and sustain effective patient navigation across three distinct country contexts. We’re combining our evaluation expertise and health systems experience to identify what works and share insights that can help make patient navigation an integral part of cancer care.”
With decades of experience working alongside government and local partners across Africa and Asia, Pact will leverage its extensive contextual understanding of health systems; strong expertise in participatory, systems-oriented evaluation; and proven commitment to evidence and learning that informs policy and practice. By capturing lessons and best practices, the evaluation will help guide how cancer patient navigation can be scaled and sustained in diverse contexts worldwide.