India, 12 October 2022: GenWorks, India’s top digital medical and healthcare solution provider, has partnered recently with the Andhra Pradesh government. This partnership will enable the state health department to provide breast and cervical cancer screening to thousands of financially disadvantaged women in the state as part of the comprehensive cancer prevention program.
Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy came to power in 2019, and one of the promises he made was to provide “every service at people’s doorsteps”.
Three years later, his vision is coming true in the healthcare sector, with several initiatives taken by the state govt. One of the recent initiatives of the state govt is a comprehensive cancer prevention program that will provide free breast and cervical cancer screening to thousands of financially disadvantaged women, in the state, wherever they live.
Genworks has donated diagnostic equipment worth 25 lacs for testing and screening. The breast cancer screening machines at Aganampudi CHC will detect abnormal cell changes early, leading to better treatment and lower treatment costs. Vidadala Rajini, minister for health, family welfare, and medical education, Andhra Pradesh, inaugurated the program led by a team of trained doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals at a community health center (CHC) in Aganampudi, Visakhapattanam, recently.
Vidadala Rajini, minister for health, family welfare, and medical education, Andhra Pradesh, said, “Providing good medical services is the top priority of the State. If more institutions handed over machines to government hospitals like this under CSR (corporate social responsibility), they could provide better medical services to poor patients. I am thankful to Mr. Ganesh Prasad and his team for providing the cancer screening equipment.”
Mr. Ganesh Prasad, MD & CEO of GenWorks, said, “Technology that can prevent cervical cancer or diagnose breast cancer early has to be used by paramedics at primary care centers. GenWorks provides cutting-edge technology that can remotely connect to one and gynaec specialists to support early diagnosis and immediate treatment. We have two unique products – Eva is a handheld colposcope that is easy to operate by trained paramedics. Braster is the other product that uses the demo-thermal effect to record deviations from the normal in breast screening examinations. Braster is easy to use, disinfect and keep clean and works for all breast sizes.”
He added, “It is our privilege to be associated with the most progressive government of Andhra Pradesh in this effort to save precious lives of women and livelihoods.”
The Andhra Pradesh – Gen works initiative is a continuous program that will see extensive training for doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals. The initiative will allow timely detection and treatment of breast and cervical cancer in women. Breast cancer is the number one cancer ailment among women in India as per the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. One out of two women diagnosed with breast cancer dies within five years, and one of the reasons for this high mortality rate is the late diagnosis, as many women are not even aware that they are carrying the disease.
According to a newsletter issued by the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society, pre-cancerous women are expected to undergo screening regularly for 25 years. Women with suppressed immune systems are also recommended for regular cervical cancer screening tests.