Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 129,000 new cases diagnosed in 2020.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only around half of women in these regions live for more than five years after being diagnosed, with late diagnosis being a major factor.
To tackle this, inventor Kemisola Bolarinwa hopes her smart bra innovation will be “instrumental” in addressing the barriers to early detection of the disease.
“My beloved mother died of breast cancer in 2017 at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria, because it was diagnosed late,” said Bolarinwa, founder of Nextwear Technology, a wearable technology company based in Abuja, Nigeria.
She added: “In her ward at the hospital, I saw women of different age groups, even teenagers, groaning in the pain of breast cancer. That was when I felt I needed to contribute my part to fight the disease.”
Bolarinwa said that women could use the device...