In a bold move to eliminate cervical cancer in the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology – Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) and End Cervical Cancer Philippines Organization Inc. (CerviQ) are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to bring AI-powered cervical cancer screening to the country’s most vulnerable communities. In their second quarter strategic meeting, the partners continued to advance the Cerv.ai project—a groundbreaking initiative combining locally developed hardware, computer vision, and real-time evaluation to detect cervical pre-cancer and cancer with precision. By focusing on innovation that is built in the Philippines, for Filipino women, the project aims to address long-standing inequities in cervical cancer screening, HPV vaccination, and treatment access.
With over 4,000 Filipino women dying of cervical cancer every year, the urgency is clear. The answer may very well lie in locally engineered, AI-powered technology—developed not in a distant lab overseas, but right here in the Philippines.
Cervical Cancer: A National Crisis That Demands Innovation
Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among Filipino women, with 8,549 new cases and 4,380 deaths annually. What makes this even more devastating is that **cervical cancer is highly preventable and curable—**when detected early.
The bottleneck has always been access to quality screening, particularly in underserved communities where the disease strikes hardest. Standard colposcopy and diagnostic tools are expensive, often imported, and require trained specialists to interpret the images. CerviQ initially looked abroad to procure these tools but soon found that foreign equipment came with foreign software and foreign restrictions—not to mention hefty costs and licensing dependencies.
So they pivoted. They looked inward. And they found a powerful ally in DOST-ASTI.
A Technology Built by Filipinos, for Filipino Women
At the heart of this partnership is Cerv.ai, a project that leverages artificial intelligence to support the early detection of cervical pre-cancer and cancer through computer vision. Using a library of thousands of annotated cervical images, the DOST-ASTI team is training deep learning models to automatically identify abnormal lesions—making it easier, faster, and more accurate to screen patients.
The system is being developed in tandem with a locally built cervical imaging device—a low-cost, high-resolution speculoscope equipped with a camera and image transmission capabilities. This eliminates the need for costly imports and gives the country full control over the software, hardware, and data.
But this isn’t just about tech. It’s about bringing innovation to where it’s needed most.
“We’re not just building machines—we’re building tools of empowerment for midwives, nurses, and frontline workers,” said Dr. Jesus Randy Rivera, CerviQ founder, during the quarterly meeting. “We want to decentralize cervical screening. If a midwife in a rural health unit can use AI to identify a lesion, we can screen more women, earlier, and save more lives.”
ASTICON 2025: A National Stage for Science That Serves
The recent quarterly meeting took place just ahead of ASTICON 2025, DOST-ASTI’s flagship convention for showcasing advanced science, technology, and innovation. With the theme “Preparing Tomorrow, Today,” this year’s ASTICON highlighted the critical role of proactive collaboration in shaping the country’s digital and scientific future.
For CerviQ and DOST-ASTI, the Cerv.ai initiative fits perfectly into that vision.
By demonstrating how artificial intelligence and medical imaging can be harnessed for public health, especially among vulnerable populations, the project exemplifies how science can be wielded not just for progress—but for equity.
Indeed, cervical cancer is not just a medical issue; it’s a gender issue. The disease disproportionately affects women—particularly the poor, the uneducated, and the geographically isolated. If it had primarily affected men, some say, we may have eliminated it decades ago.
CerviQ’s collaboration with DOST-ASTI is a direct challenge to that historical neglect. It is a declaration that women’s health deserves not just charity—but innovation.
Beyond Detection: Empowerment Through Access
One of the most powerful features of the technology being developed is its focus on patient-centered care. The Cerv.ai system envisions a future where:
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Women can sign up for screening digitally,
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Access images of their own cervix,
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Receive evaluations in real-time, and
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Get navigated to appropriate care immediately.
This transforms screening from a passive experience into one of education, empowerment, and agency. Women are not just test subjects—they’re participants in their own health journey.
The system also simplifies and streamlines reporting to the Department of Health, allowing local government units and RHUs to manage population-level screening data efficiently—critical for national surveillance and policy planning.
Looking Ahead: From Prototype to Nationwide Impact
While the AI models and imaging device are still in development, the second quarter meeting underscored key milestones:
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Completion of the first wave of image dataset annotation
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Integration of AI prototype with the local imaging device
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Pilot testing in selected municipal health centers
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Ongoing user training and feedback from frontline health workers
The partnership’s roadmap for the next quarter includes broader field validation, expansion of the dataset to include varied ethnic and anatomical features, and usability testing with midwives and nurses in actual screening conditions.
With every step, the team comes closer to a future where no Filipino woman dies from cervical cancer simply because she wasn’t screened in time.
A Collective Vision, A National Mission
DOST-ASTI and CerviQ are proving that eliminating cervical cancer in the Philippines is not a pipe dream—it is a question of priorities. With local talent, open collaboration, and the right technology, the Philippines can lead the world in democratizing cervical health.
As ASTICON 2025 reminds us, “Preparing Tomorrow, Today” requires more than scientific breakthroughs. It requires the political will to invest in women, the moral clarity to challenge systemic neglect, and the technical expertise to build tools that reach everyone—not just those who can afford them.
We’re getting there. One image, one algorithm, one woman at a time.
