The India Health and Wellness (IHW) Council awarded Biocon Foundation, Biocon Limited's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm, the Gold Award in the 'Diseases Screening Initiative of the Year' category for its 'Oral Cancer Screening Program' at the annual IHW Summit & Awards event in Mumbai.
Anupama Shetty, Mission Director of Biocon Foundation, received the award at the 8th edition of the IHW Summit & Awards, which was co-hosted by the Maharashtra Government's Public Health & Family Welfare Department and supported by NITI Aayog.
The Biocon Foundation has pioneered a mHealth-technology-based (mobile health) oral cancer screening program in India to address and delay cancer of the lip and oral cavity, which is the most common cancer in males and the fourth most common cancer in females in India. According to GLOBOCAN 2020, it (Lip and oral cavity cancers) accounts for approximately 30% of all cancers in India.
The Foundation's program improves the ability of Frontline Healthcare Providers (FHPs) in low-resource settings to prevent and diagnose oral cancer at an early stage.
The training of FHPs in the use of a mobile phone app enables them to collect health data, including intra-oral images. It also connects FHPs to remote diagnostic specialists. This novel approach enables robust patient triaging and monitoring of high-risk groups.
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