When I learned that a tech start-up in India called Niramai has created an affordable handheld device to screen for breast cancer, I had a great surge of hope. Three much-loved women in my family died far too soon because their breast cancers went undetected until it was too late, which is true for a majority of breast cancer patients in my country. Only 1% to 8% of Indian women are diagnosed in the early ‘stage 1’ period of the disease, compared to 60% to 70% of patients in the United States.
The high costs of medical equipment have kept life-saving screening services like mammograms out of reach for too many women. Now, fortunately, new startups like Niramai are leveraging technology to scale innovative and affordable solutions to save women in India and other emerging markets.
The company’s device detects minute variations of temperature within breast tissue using advance AI algorithms, enabling it to pinpoint even the most nascent abnormal growth. The cost of this handheld and portable screening device allows the cost of screening to drop to $30 per patient – far less than the cost of a mammogram – and when used for mass screenings virtually anywhere, it costs less than $10 per person.
Almost four billion women, slightly less than half of the world’s population, face health and safety issues unique to their gender , including management of fertility cycles and menstruation, pregnancy-related conditions, menopausal symptoms, cancers of the breasts and ovaries, and health problems that strike women proportionately higher than men – such as complications and respiratory distress caused by cooking fires. Furthermore, one in three women are victims of physical or sexual violence, according the United Nations, which categorizes violence against women and girls as a human rights violation.
For women in poorer countries, these health issues are compounded by lack of adequate access to healthcare, as well as cultural and gender taboos that deter them from speaking up about problems related to sexuality, mental health, and reproduction. Countless studies have shown women in low-income countries lack access to healthcare, in part because many work at home or in the informal sector without access to steady income or insurance. Just one heart-breaking example: The World Health Organization reports 1 in 41 of women in the world’s poorest countries die from maternal causes, compared to 1 in 3,300 in high-income countries.
While barriers to high-quality, affordable and inclusive healthcare for women have been historically difficult to tackle, technology is offering new hope. Tech entrepreneurs are stepping into the market with innovative solutions using smart sensors, 3D printed biomaterials, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. With almost 50% of the global population as target customers, the women’s healthtech market has the potential to reach US$9.4 billion by 2024, according to the market research firm Frost & Sullivan.
“It’s imperative that innovative companies and start-ups focusing on women’s health and wellbeing receive the attention and financial support required to develop and scale their critical — and often life-saving — solutions, particularly across emerging markets where they are most needed.”
This fast-growing sector, covering all aspects of women’s health and safety, is starting to provide women in remote, underserved communities with reliable health information and low-cost, accessible, and high-quality health services. For instance, Oky is a free period-tracking app used by UNICEF in a pilot program to help adolescent girls in Mongolia and Indonesia learn about menstruation. MobileODT, an Israeli health-tech company, has created a non-invasive diagnostic device to detect cervical cancer that is being used for mass screenings in the Dominican Republic. Remote monitors are helping patients in Mexico manage diabetes, which afflicts an estimated 223 million women globally. There are safety apps that allow women to call for help when they’re in danger, and wellness platforms with reliable advice on menopause, nutrition, and mental health.
The need for this kind of tech innovation has never been greater. The World Bank warns the COVID-19 pandemic has almost certainly exacerbated women’s health and safety, based on previous surveys following the SARS and Ebola crises that showed women were less likely to seek medical care. India’s national statistics site CoWin, for example, is showing a gap in COVID vaccinations, with women receiving 856 doses of the vaccine for every 1,000 received by men – a ratio of 46% compared to the overall ratio of 48% women in the country.
Confined by quarantine, vulnerable women also lack the resources to get help when their safety is endangered. The UN, citing data that shows all types of violence against women has intensified, calls it the ‘Shadow Pandemic.’
It’s imperative that innovative companies and start-ups focusing on women’s health and wellbeing receive the attention and financial support required to develop and scale their critical — and often life-saving — solutions , particularly across emerging markets where they are most needed.
In my role as the Global HealthTech Sector Lead for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), I have worked with several digital-first businesses focused on women’s health and safety; I saw first-hand the transformative impact that, with the right support, these companies can have on the lives of millions of women and girls around the world. This is why I’m very excited for the Global Women’s HealthTech Awards — an important initiative launched by IFC, the World Bank, and the Consumer Technology Association to identify and celebrate path-breaking companies in this sector.
These awards will recognize up to 12 companies, large and small, whose products and services leverage technology to improve women’s health and safety in emerging markets. The international spotlight will shine on the winners, which will be showcased at CES 2022, the most influential technology trade show in the world, gathering top companies, global experts, and investors in the fields of technology and innovation. These prestigious awards will give the winning companies visibility on a global stage among potential new partners and investors who can help them develop and scale their innovative tech solutions.
I hope these awards and similar initiatives will not only bring attention to the many challenges women still face when it comes to health and safety, but also the tremendous opportunity that technology is presenting us: With proper investment, we can finally develop and scale affordable and inclusive solutions that can change – and often save – the lives of millions of women across the globe.
Accessible breast cancer screening has arrived too late for the women in my family; hopefully, new technology and the drive of innovative entrepreneurs from around the world will change that, for our generation and the ones ahead of us.
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