The lack of healthcare facilities in rural India, and the stigma associated with breast examinations, has
resulted in too few women being diagnosed at a sufficiently early stage to prevent the widespread and often
catastrophic impact of late stage cancer. Tragically, in many cases, it can push families, already struggling to
make ends meet, into poverty and destitution.
Chellaram Foundation has developed the Mobile Breast Cancer Clinic (MBCC) which can travel into the heart
of remote rural communities and provide screening and early stage detection services. The MBCC is fitted
with contactless thermal imaging technology operated by trained healthcare workers which avoids the
intrusion of a conventional breast examination.
The initiative is inspired by Chellaram Foundation’s diabetes outreach programme which covered 900+
villages and screened 150,000 people. The success of the model resulted in its take up by the Maharashtra
State Government and applied to other regions.