Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in the world where 88% of all cases occur in the developing world. With approximately 600,000 new cases every year, this silent killer is responsible for over 250,000 deaths/year, making it the second leading cause of womens’ cancer deaths in developing countries. While cervical cancer has largely been eradicated in the developed world with the incorporation of regular screening and new opportunities for vaccinations, it remains a large burden in the developing world due to inadequate healthcare infrastructure, high costs, and the lack of an appropriate technology for treatment. The economic burden of cervical cancer in the developing world is approximately $300 million each year.

Momo Scientific is a social venture medical device company dedicated to reducing womens’ deaths through the prevention of cervical cancer. We have partnered with Jhpiego, a John’s Hopkins University affiliated NGO focused on improving womens’ health, to develop and distribute the CryoPop. The CryoPop is a patent-pending low-cost medical device, which uses dry ice for the treatment of cervical pre-cancerous lesions in low-resource settings. The CryoPop relies only on carbon dioxide tanks already available in developing countries because of soda companies, and is 10 times cheaper, 10 times more efficient, and more effective & reliable than the currently utilized technology.

Momo Scientific intends to distribute the CryoPop within India and Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, with 50% of the economic burden of cervical cancer being attributed to productivity losses, and 21% of the burden being attributed to palliative care, health ministries of these countries would desire a low-cost method for reducing this burden. Along with Jhpiego, we plan to tackle the problems associated with costly and timely diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer, to potentially prevent over 250,000 womens’ deaths per year.