ACT, a non-profit venture philanthropy platform, has recently brought Periwinkle Technologies, Niramai Health Analytix and Navya Care on board to improve access to affordable, quality cancer care in India.

ACT For Health will provide catalytic grant funding, accelerate scale of the solutions by providing key network interventions, and enable widespread ecosystem adoption. 

Early breast cancer detection is the key to improving patient survival but 60% of breast cancer patients in India are diagnosed only at an advanced stage (stages III and IV). Niramai’s low cost, non-invasive, portable & radiation-free artificial intelligent (AI) based engine detects thermal signatures for abnormalities & aims to accelerate early stage cancer detection and treatment.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in India; accounting for 18.3% of new cases. While the pap smear test is effective, it is both time and cost intensive; especially for women in rural India. Periwinkle’s Smart Scope CX is a handheld device that enables health workers to detect cervical cancer at an early stage, thus reducing the high mortality caused by late diagnosis.

Delivering cancer care that complies with standard clinical guidelines is often impacted due to the shortage of oncologists in the country. Navya Care’s AI based Earthshot Engine is a simple digital user interface through which non-clinical staff can enter patient data. It then maps that data to NCG (National Cancer Grid) and NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) guidelines to determine compliant treatment protocols.