Private-sector healthcare startup CERVI is focused on helping address the scourge of cervical cancer, a disease with a 50% mortality rate. The human papillomavirus (HPV), which is sexually transmitted, plays a role in the development of cervical cancer. HPV infections are linked to 99% of cervical cancers reported. But vaccines against HPV exist.

In South Africa, some 6 000 cervical cancer cases are diagnosed, and about 3 000 women subsequently die from the disease, every year, CERVI project manager Rudi de Koker told Engineering News Online at the 2023 South Africa Innovation Summit in Cape Town, on Thursday. The government has instituted a cervical cancer/HPV awareness and vaccination programme in schools, for girls aged nine and ten.

De Koker, whose background is in public health, noted that there were two vaccines against HPV: Cervarix and Gardasil. Cervarix protects against two strains of HPV, Gardasil 4 protects against four strains, while Gardasil 9 protects against nine strains, of HPV. Vaccines remain relevant if a woman contracted HPV, as it is not likely that she has been infected by all types or strains of HPV.

“CERVI was started by a multi-disciplinary team,” he explained. “We have an online platform, and we’re currently in the beta-testing phase, so the platform is not live yet. We have planned to have it live before the end of this year.”

The platform will be commercialised and is intended to alleviate the burden on the public health system. The service is intended for girls and women in the age range from nine to 45. CERVI will give women access to an HPV self-screening kit, as well as to HPV vaccines, across South Africa, through the Independent Community Pharmacy Association. Access to the app will be free, but the kit and the vaccines will have to be bought.

The self-screening kit (which will cost about R1 000) will be delivered to the customer. The sample swab she takes will be collected by a courier and taken to the lab for analysis, and the results reported to her via the platform. If the result is positive (she has HPV), the results will also be communicated to her doctor. She could then order a vaccine (the prices of which range from about R1 500 to around R2 500), which would be administered at her closest participating pharmacy.