PRESCRIP-TEC Conference at Manipal: A Milestone in the Fight to Eliminate Cervical Cancer

From November 20–23, 2025, the Manipal campus buzzed with purpose as Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) hosted the international conference of the Prevention and Screening Innovation Project Toward Elimination of Cervical Cancer (PRESCRIP-TEC). Jointly organised by the Manipal School of Information Sciences (MSoIS), Prasanna School of Public Health (PSPH), and Kasturba Medical College (KMC), the four-day event brought together clinicians, public-health experts, researchers, technologists, policymakers, and implementation partners from India and across the globe.

Why PRESCRIP-TEC Matters

Cervical cancer remains one of the most preventable yet persistent causes of cancer death among women in low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization’s global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a public-health problem rests on three pillars:

90% HPV vaccination coverage
70% screening coverage
90% treatment access by 2030

PRESCRIP-TEC, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, is putting these targets into action in four countries—India, Bangladesh, Uganda, and Slovakia—by introducing affordable, AI-supported, point-of-care screening using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), self-sampling HPV testing, and portable thermal ablation for immediate treatment of precancerous lesions.

Highlights from Manipal

The conference blended cutting-edge science with ground realities:

Hands-on workshops on AI-enhanced cervical imaging, portable colposcopy, and thermal ablation drew gynaecologists, nurses, and ASHAs from Karnataka and neighbouring states.
Sessions on implementation science showcased how community-based screening programmes in Udupi and Bengaluru Rural districts have already reached thousands of under-screened women.
A dedicated track on health informatics (led by MSoIS) explored how artificial intelligence and low-cost devices can reduce the burden on tertiary centres while improving diagnostic accuracy.
Policymakers from the Karnataka Department of Health and Family Welfare discussed scaling these innovations statewide, aligning with the state’s ambitious non-communicable disease control roadmap.

Dr Helmut Krcmar (Technical University of Munich), Dr Eric Suba (Kaiser Permanente, USA), and Dr Partha Basu (International Agency for Research on Cancer) were among the international faculty who shared lessons from global elimination efforts.

Voices from the Ground

One of the most powerful moments came when ASHA workers from Udupi district demonstrated how they now use a simple smartphone-based AI app to perform preliminary screening in remote villages. “Earlier, women had to travel hours to Manipal or Mangalore. Now we can identify and refer in the same visit,” said an ASHA worker from Kundapura.

The Road Ahead for Karnataka and India

With India bearing nearly a quarter of the global cervical cancer burden, events like PRESCRIP-TEC are more than academic gatherings—they are catalysts for policy change. The conference concluded with a commitment from MAHE and its partners to:

Train 5,000 frontline workers in AI-assisted screening across Karnataka in the next two years
Establish 50 community-based “see-and-treat” centres in high-burden districts
Integrate PRESCRIP-TEC tools into the state’s National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDS) framework

As Dr H Vinod Bhat, former Vice Chancellor of MAHE and a driving force behind the project in India, put it:
“This is not just about technology or medicine. It is about equity—ensuring that a woman in a remote village has the same chance of surviving cervical cancer as a woman in New York or Geneva.”

The PRESCRIP-TEC conference at Manipal has shown that elimination is no longer a distant dream. With political will, community engagement, and smart innovation, India can lead the way.

Together, we can make cervical cancer history.

For more details about the project: prescrip-tec.org

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