IN Malaysia, lung cancer is one of the most common cancers.
Unfortunately, 80 per cent of patients are diagnosed at stage four, when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, making early screening crucial to expedite diagnosis and treatment.
With this in mind, AstraZeneca has announced an initiative to accelerate digitalisation in healthcare by introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) x-ray technology into early lung screening at government clinics and hospitals under the Projek Saringan Awal Paru-Paru (SAPU) programme.
Institut Kanser Negara (IKN) will be the first government institution in the country to implement this AI technology.
Projek SAPU aims to act as a catalyst to encourage the adoption of AI x-ray screening by other government healthcare facilities, fostering a broader embrace of early screening for lung abnormalities as well as advancing research efforts in lung care.
SAPU also aspires to close the gap in screening by broadening the public's access to this cutting-edge technology and identifying more patients in the early stages of cancer.
"This partnership with IKN enables us to provide a new experience to healthcare practitioners by embedding advanced AI technology for early lung screening and detecting various lung conditions, beyond lung cancer. We know that AI-driven diagnosis is pivotal in merging cutting-edge technology with healthcare and this approach ultimately provides better prognosis and outcome for patients," says AstraZeneca Malaysia country president Vinod Narayanan.
Locally, the number of patient visits to government clinics and hospitals runs into the millions, adds Vinod.
The introduction of AI technology in these centres means that a wider part of the population can benefit from this advanced early screening technology and at lower, affordable costs.
This is a crucial first step in levelling the field and ensuring a wider population receives access to AI-driven lung care screening.
AstraZeneca's partnership with IKN aims to promote the adoption of AI technology within the government sector, while strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in Malaysia
Under Projek SAPU, AI technology will also be rolled out as a pilot study at selected government clinics and hospitals across the country, with selected centres acting as "sandbox sites" to collate data on the roll-out results.
Data gained from the programme will be used to develop an understanding of Malaysia's local landscape and disease demographics.
This initiative by AstraZeneca is part of its early AI-powered lung cancer screening under its flagship Lung Ambition Alliance programme, which was first rolled out in 2021.
Since the programme's inception, close to 19,000 patients have been screened for lung cancer and over 400 high-risk patients have been referred to selected hospitals for further investigation.
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