Contxto – Every year, over 462,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer across the Americas. Of these, nearly 100,000 will die. These grim numbers seem to leave little room for hope, but luckily Latin America has a host of breast cancer startups looking to stop the disease in its tracks.
So, to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we present to you the Latin American breast cancer prevention startups saving increasing numbers of lives every single day.
Startup missing?
Breast cancer startups in Latin America
On current trends, by 2030, projections in the number of women diagnosed is set to increase by 34 percent across the continent.
Anyone can get breast cancer, however, this is primordially a women’s issue. In Latin America and the Caribbean, this particular disease is the most common cancer among women. It is also the second most lethal cancer to women after lung cancer.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women under 65 (56 percent) in Latam. Compare that with the United States and Canada (37 percent).
However, there are plans to halt and reduce the cancerous trend, as laid out by the WHO:
But, these reduction efforts require local and innovative help on the ground.
Startups for prevention and diagnostics
Therefore, now more than ever and in Latam more than anywhere, access to quick, affordable, and easy to use tools are needed to detect breast cancer. Startups have stepped up to the plate and they offer a range of solutions.
Some of these companies focus on diagnostics—the earlier and more widespread, the better. Others, meanwhile, look less medical at medical procedures and focus on habit building and education.
Startups like these include Uruguayan health edtech Vipermed or Colombia’s Modo Rosa. This solution offers an app that not only teaches women how to self-examine for any irregularities, but it also reminds them to do so periodically.
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-AG, SB
