PinkDetect: Using AI to transform breast health in Pakistan

In Pakistan, breast cancer is not just a medical diagnosis — it is a silent crisis shaped by fear, and delayed care. One in nine women in the country faces breast cancer, and nearly 89% of cases are detected at later stages, when treatment becomes more aggressive, expensive, and uncertain. Each year, more than 40,000 women lose their lives, often not because the disease was incurable, but because it was discovered too late.

Against this backdrop, PinkDetect emerges not just as a technological fix, but as a deeply contextual response to a problem rooted as much in society as in science.

It is founded by Suha Suleman Lalani, a biomedical science graduate from Ryerson University and currently pursuing her master’s in public health at Harvard. During her tenure at Microsoft, Suha led generative AI initiatives for healthcare and life sciences clients, where she discovered the transformative potential of technology in saving lives. Inspired by this vision along with her personal grief, she created PinkDetect, Pakistan’s first-of-its-kind solution, designed to revolutionise breast health by early detection, and accessible care.

After experiencing the loss of a loved one to breast cancer, Suha was confronted firsthand with the devastating cost of late detection. What followed was not just the creation of an app, but the building of an ecosystem designed to help women understand their breast cancer risk early before symptoms escalate into life-threatening realities.

At its core, the platform blends artificial intelligence with local data, ethical design, and community-based outreach, attempting to shift breast health from crisis response to preventive care.

Technology built for Pakistani women

What sets PinkDetect apart is how deliberately it is grounded in local realities. Traditional breast cancer risk models, such as the Gail Model, are largely developed using Western datasets and often fail to reflect the biological, social, and lifestyle patterns of women in South Asia.

“The Gail Model didn’t work for us —it was built for Western, Caucasian women. Pakistani women were invisible in that data. So we built our own approach,” Suha explained.

PinkDetect’s AI-driven risk assessment model addresses this gap by training on locally relevant demographic and health data. By leveraging a large language model trained on contextual information, the platform analyses structured questionnaire responses to determine whether a woman falls into a low, moderate, or high-risk category.

Users begin by completing a structured questionnaire that covers menstrual history, reproductive milestones, family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and general health indicators. The AI then generates a personalised risk profile, categorising users into low, moderate, or high risk groups. But the platform does not stop at clarification. Based on a user’s risk level, PinkDetect offers tailored guidance, including automated reminders for regular self-exams, step-by-step tutorials illustrated with simple visuals, and symptom-tracking tools that allow women to monitor changes over time.

For women flagged at high risk, the platform bridges the often fragmented gap between awareness and care by directing them to nearby diagnostic facilities. In doing so, it transforms a digital assessment into a tangible pathway toward clinical intervention.

A clinical study published in the Pakistan Journal of Health found that early detection rates in clinics and hospitals using PinkDetect increased from 41% to 58%, marking a significant improvement in the odds of diagnosing breast cancer at earlier, more treatable stages.

Moving beyond app: Breaking social barriers

Yet technology alone cannot dismantle the deeply entrenched social barriers that surround women’s health in Pakistan. In many communities, conversations around breast health remain taboo, compounded by limited access to healthcare facilities and digital tools.

“In our focus groups, many women compared mammograms to something that would compromise their morality,” Suha said. “There were widespread misconceptions—that breast cancer is contagious, that it should be kept quiet, or that it can be passed from mother to daughter. This culture of silence made it difficult even to convince women to undergo free clinical breast exams.”

Recognising this, PinkDetect deliberately expanded its work beyond the app itself.

One arm of the initiative focuses on screening camps, organised in partnership with local organisations. These camps provide free clinical breast examination while also creating safe spaces for women to learn how to conduct self-exams. The emphasis is not just on screening, but on translating awareness into habit, encouraging women to take ownership of their health in ways that feel practical and achievable.

The second arm, which is trained in the trainer programme, works at the grassroots level. PinkDetects train lady health workers at the district and community levels, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to educate women directly in their homes. These health workers go door-to-door, teaching breast self-examination techniques and, where possible, guiding women on how to use the PinkDetect application. Designed to create a ripple effect, the programme enables a single trained health worker to reach dozens of households, making breast health education accessible to women with no prior experience with digital healthcare tools.

Ethical AI and design with dignity

From the outset, PinkDetect has been shaped by ethical considerations. User data is collected anonymously. A critical safeguard in a context where fear of exposure can prevent women from seeking care. This commitment allows the platform to generate meaningful population-level insights without compromising individual dignity.

The app’s design language is equally intentional. Instead of graphic imagery that can provoke discomfort or resistance, PinkDetect relies on cartoon-based animations to demonstrate self-examination techniques. By prioritising comfort, clarity, and consent, the platform reframes breast health as an act of self-care rather than fear.

When early detection saves lives

The impact of PinkDetect becomes most visible when awareness turns into action. At one screening camp, approximately 35 women were examined and four were diagnosed with abnormalities. One case was identified as stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. Doctors noted that, without early detection, it could have progressed to stage 3, significantly reducing survival outcomes.

Crucially, PinkDetect does not abandon women after diagnosis.

Through partnerships with Fortune 500 companies and international organisations, including Western Union, the Roddenberry Foundation, Harvard Innovation Labs, and Future Trust—the initiative provides support to these women.

In one case, the PinkDetect team helped connect a diagnosed patient with donors who covered her chemotherapy costs. At the time of reporting, she had completed multiple treatment cycles and was responding well—an outcome that underscores the life-saving potential of pairing early detection with sustained support.

The initiative has also pushed boundaries of inclusion. In collaboration with the Binae Education Foundation, PinkDetect conducted Karachi’s first-ever breast cancer awareness workshop for visually impaired women, adapting educational tools to ensure no community remains invisible.

Between innovation and reality

As PinkDetect scales, expanding partnerships across Sindh and Punjab, developing a discreet WhatsApp based chatbot, and introducing tools to help women differentiate between normal lactation-related pain and potential cancer symptoms—it stands at a critical intersection.

The initiative demonstrates what becomes possible when artificial intelligence listens before it intervenes, adapts to lived realities, and works alongside communities rather than above them. At the same time, it exposes the limits of innovation within a healthcare system constrained by fragile infrastructure and persistent stigma.

According to Suha, the mindset around breast cancer awareness in Pakistan is gradually changing.

“Reaching 50,000 women wouldn’t have been possible without the gradual shift in awareness” Suha said. “They start asking questions, seeking to learn more. During one of our camps one woman approached me and said ‘I live nearby, I’ll bring my daughter and sister too.’ It is inspiring to see how open women are becoming to seeking knowledge.”

That moment, she explained, marked a shift.

“That’s when I realised we weren’t just reaching individuals, we were creating a ripple effect, where knowledge was being passed from one generation of women to the next.”

Woman behind the work

Suha has a rare ability to translate complex community health challenges into actionable, tech-based solutions without losing sight of the human stories beneath the data.

She has positioned the initiative as more than a startup. It is a catalyst, reshaping how breast health is understood, discussed, and acted upon in Pakistan.

What PinkDetect ultimately offers is not a silver bullet, but a framework: one where innovation is rooted in empathy, technology is guided by ethics, and early detection becomes not a privilege, but a possibility.