Affordable medical technologies for the world

An Event to spur innovative medtech solutions for pressing challenges around oncology prevention, diagnostics and care will be held February 27-28, 2016, in Boston.

TheConsortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech), Global Oncology, and the MGH Cancer Center will hold a Global Cancer Innovation Hack-a-thon to catalyze affordable medical technology, business models and process innovations to transform cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care in resource-limited settings. 

In the U.S. we know that cancer treatment is expensive and is not always successful.  If cancers are found at early stages, they are more likely to be treated successfully.  In the U.S. and Europe, the stage at which cancers are found is going down: instead of finding cancers only when they are symptomatic and have likely already spread (stages 3-4), they are more often found at early stages, often because the person is getting a scan for something else, and the cancer is spotted on the scan (“incidental findings” of tumors at stages 1-2).

In the developing world, however, where most of the world’s population lives, cancers are still found most often at stages 3-4, when treatment is much more expensive and hazardous.  And the truth is, the health care systems in these countries are not prepared to deal with late-stage cancer treatments.

The Consortium for Global Health at the Massachusetts General Hospital is working to shift that paradigm through this special event, which will soure innovative solutions for pressing challenges around oncology prevention, diagnostics and care.

While applications for the event have closed, CAMTech encourages you to follow @CAMTechMGH on Twitter and visit the event FAcebook page for live updates, discussions on specific cancer-related challenges, and highlights from the amazing cancer-related medical technologies that come out of the Hack-a-thon.