Improving the quality of care for every newborn while reducing preventable deaths: this shared challenge was at the core of the NEST Partners Meeting 2026, held in Dakar from 15 to 18 June, bringing together partners, healthcare professionals, and global health stakeholders committed to improving neonatal care in resource-limited settings.
Over four days, clinicians and institutional representatives engaged in discussions on what is happening across different NEST Model implementation contexts, with a concrete objective: turning experience and knowledge into coordinated and sustainable action.
The 2026 edition involved partners from across sub-Saharan Africa, including CHU-MEL Hospital in Cotonou and Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital in Tanguiéta (both in Benin), Saint Camille Hospital in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Ngozi Regional Hospital (Burundi), Treichville Hospital in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), and Yendube Pediatric Hospital in Dapaong (Togo), alongside the Foundation’s team and a wide range of international stakeholders, creating a working environment that connected experiences, expertise, and complementary perspectives.
A space for exchange on neonatal health
The NEST Partners Meeting is a working platform built around direct exchange among partners operating in similar contexts. Field experience is not only shared, but also used to identify immediately applicable solutions and consolidate approaches that are already delivering results.
This perspective shaped the entire meeting, combining strategic alignment with operational sessions. From the very first day, it became clear that improving neonatal outcomes does not depend solely on clinical interventions, but on the ability to strengthen healthcare systems as a whole.
Within this framework, family-centered care emerged as a key component of neonatal care. Actively involving families contributes to better newborn outcomes, reduces parental stress, and enhances the effectiveness of healthcare teams.
Discussions also highlighted the importance of collaboration at multiple levels: within hospitals, across healthcare facilities, and in engagement with institutions and technical and financial partners. Strengthening these connections is essential to overcoming systemic challenges and ensuring consistent, high-quality care.
Clinical training and practice: neonatal resuscitation and respiratory distress
One of the key moments of the meeting took place at the Centre National Hospitalier d’Enfants Albert Royer in Dakar, where participants observed the organization of neonatal wards and engaged directly with clinical practices and organizational models.
Particular attention was given to the management of respiratory distress and neonatal resuscitation, addressed through both theoretical sessions and hands-on training aimed at aligning clinical practices across different contexts.
During resuscitation exercises, focused on the first minutes after birth—when seconds can make a difference—participants used the AIR Device, a technology that provides real-time feedback on ventilation performance. This allowed them to adjust their techniques during simulations and strengthen skills that can be immediately applied in clinical practice.
The day concluded with a visit to the neonatal ward, providing a direct view of how the practices discussed are integrated into routine care. Overall, these sessions reinforced a core element of the NEST approach: starting from concrete challenges to develop shared, applicable, and replicable solutions.
Engaging international stakeholders and institutions
The day dedicated to dialogue with the global health community marked a key moment in the meeting. Following opening remarks by Maria Paola Chiesi and Massimo Salvadori, President and Managing Director of the Foundation, the discussion focused on what it means to translate commitment into tangible impact within healthcare systems.
The conversation highlighted three recurring challenges: fragmented care pathways, one-off training, and the limited use of data. These factors ultimately determine whether interventions such as CPAP, resuscitation, or Kangaroo Care move beyond pilot phases and become part of everyday practice.
Access to technologies and interventions alone is not sufficient. The real challenges lie in ensuring quality, continuity, and integration into national health systems. In this sense, scaling means making interventions effective within real systems and sustaining them over time.
The session brought together a wide range of international stakeholders—including the Senegalese Ministry of Health, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Global Financing Facility, Gates Foundation, Laerdal Global Health e African Neonatal Association—fostering a grounded discussion built on the integration of diverse perspectives and experiences.
Results and future directions of the NEST Model
A significant part of the meeting was dedicated to sharing results. The presentation of a report on the impact of the NEST Model at Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital in Tanguiéta was one of the key moments, which provided a concrete example of how the model translates into real improvements at the local level.
The final day also included a session on family-centered care led by Federico Bianco, Technical Advisor of the Foundation, followed by the presentation of the Satisfaction Mère Kangourou project by Dr Ousman Mouhamadou, coordinator of the IMPULSE project. In both sessions, the centrality of the family experience and the quality of care relationships clearly emerged as key factors closely linked to clinical outcomes.
A network strengthened through exchange
The meeting confirmed the value of a space where those working daily on the ground can compare experiences, share solutions, and consolidate effective approaches. It is through this exchange that a network is strengthened—one capable of turning dialogue into concrete and sustainable action.
Beyond Dakar: from dialogue to action
The NEST Partners Meeting 2026 closes with a clear message: improving neonatal health requires shared, continuous work rooted in local contexts.
The work does not end with the meeting. It continues in hospital wards, within healthcare teams, and across the systems where the NEST Model is applied every day. This is where exchange translates into practice and where interventions generate measurable results for newborns and their families.
For the Paolo Chiesi Foundation, Dakar marks an important step in a broader journey aimed at integrating and supporting effective care models within health systems, contributing over time to concrete and lasting improvements in neonatal health.
