The sun rises over El Jadida, a fortified city in south-western Morocco, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. Pathologist Hicham El Attar is already at work. As a co-founder of DataPathology, he analyses and diagnoses 3D images to detect the slightest cell that could indicate cervical cancer.

A few years ago, Hicham El Attar's mother died from the second most-frequent cancer in women. A tragic loss, which made him decide to work on providing an efficient and affordable service to medical practitioners and patients to combat this significant public health problem.

Along with Mohammed El Khannoussi, an information systems and data consultant, he managed to design a solution. Together, they founded DataPathology, a "Medtech" start-up specializing in medical pathology, in 2020. Combining pathology diagnosis and data digitization, the company uses artificial intelligence and image processing technologies to analyse tissue samples and detect signs of cancer accurately.

By speeding up the diagnostic process and reducing the risks of human error, DataPathology is helping tackle non- or late detection of cervical cancer in patients in Morocco and elsewhere in Africa, thanks to latest-generation screening systems and a network of connected laboratories.

DataPathology has implemented its "AI-PAP" solution, a complete process that covers everything from distributing a medical sampling kit to a digital platform. The solution is designed to record, analyse and diagnose the results in one of the many laboratories connected to the network.

Easy to access and use, the system offers gynaecologists, general practitioners and laboratory technicians the ability to take the sample themselves and therefore increase the number of patients screened. Using the kit provided, they take a cervical smear on site, enter the associated patient code on the digital platform developed by DataPathology and send in the samples. There is then a battery of tests before the final diagnosis is shared with the patient's doctor. The entire process takes two to three days.

"The platform we use can deal with up to 250 tests a day, which is an extraordinary improvement: in the past, only around 10 tests a day could be processed. We can do it thanks to artificial intelligence and data digitization," explains Dr El Attar.

DataPathology works with multiple partners and strives continuously to make the screening test as affordable as possible. "There is both an economic impact and an impact on survival, because a screening tests that costs USD 100 means you can avoid cancer treatment that would cost you much more than that, say USD 10,000 to 20,000. We hope that one day, the test will be free of charge," comments Hicham El Attar.

However, vaccination remains a critical step before the use of screening, which women can access from age 25. The World Health Organization (WHO), as part of its plan to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030, has set a target of vaccinating 90% of girls, screening 70% of women and treating 90% of women with invasive cancer.

However, although there is a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer linked to the papillomavirus, diagnosing it faces a number of hurdles in Africa. For Dr El Attar, "implementing strategies that involve both the public and private sectors, the African Development Bank, private banks and insurance companies, i.e. everyone who has a part to play, would be the most effective direction to take."

Thanks to its innovative approach, DataPathology is currently working on establishing connected laboratories throughout Morocco but also in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Dakar, in Senegal. In June 2023, the start-up raised USD 1 million from the Azur Innovation Fund, supported by the African Development Bank, to support its expansion in Africa.

Hicham El Attar is more determined than ever, and wants "to continue to improve access to high-quality care and save lives by diagnosing cancers earlier".