AI supported diagnostic innovations for impact in global women’s health

Nina Linder and colleagues examine how artificial intelligence could be applied to diagnostic methods that rely on highly trained experts, such as cytological screening for cervical cancer, enabling implementation even in resource limited settings Screening and diagnostic methods are essential for secondary prevention, early detection, and appropriate treatment across a range of women’s health conditions. Cervical cancer provides a compelling example of how screening and timely diagnosis can substantially improve outcomes and drastically reduce mortality, while also reflecting how women’s health priorities have historically been underfunded and under-innovated, especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs). The disease is considered preventable through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and various screening modalities, but there has been limited investment in novel diagnostic tools, and inequities in access to evidence based, cost effective screening prevail, particularly in low resource settings.12 Cervical cancer screening ever in lifetime among women aged 30-49 years, for example, was reported to be 84% in high income countries and 11% in low income countries.1 Artificial intelligence (AI) supported tools, such as cytological cervical cancer screening, self-sampling combined with HPV testing, or AI analysis of cervix images, show great promise and have been successfully implemented at scale in research and clinical settings.3456 Yet their impact in LMICs remains constrained by persistent health system barriers to implementation and scale-up. Uptake of digital technologies is often hindered by systemic barriers including regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure constraints, and competing economic priorities.78 In parallel, molecular HPV testing capabilities and HPV vaccine coverage remain limited in many LMICs, with approximately one in five eligible girls receiving the full course of preventive immunisation.910 Given the 10-20 year lag time before HPV vaccination has a measurable impact on cervical cancer rates, scalable and effective screening remains critical for …