When it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI) most people tend to be divided into two camps, much like Marmite they either love it or hate it.

Hollywood blockbusters often depict robots stealing our jobs, taking over the world, and scepticism about technology have also further skewed opinions of AI.

While AI, which comes in many forms including algorithms and robots, is all around us and has been implemented in big sectors like manufacturing, as well as led to job losses in industries such as the media. It has also dramatically transformed other areas.

Now imagine a world where an app on your smartphone can give you a diagnosis on a medical condition, or drones collecting and delivering specimen results to and from clinics?

Thanks to CHIL AI Lab – an innovative company where medicine meets AI - this is a reality.

CHIL (an acronym for Community Healthcare Innovation Lab) is part of a group of firms whose operations were formed around the struggles its founder endured as a cancer patient.

The four femtech ventures, which fall under mother company CHIL AI Group, specialise in the business of tele-health, agritech, drone services and fintech. They were all founded by 25-year-old Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa. 

Kaliisa - who has a background in medicine but prefers to be called a social entrepreneur rather than a doctor - says she founded the group out of passion and personal experience.

Surviving breast cancer and losing her mother at 13 to the illness were a catalyst and the “motivation” behind the CEO’s quest to help women in Africa have access to early cancer screening.

Lovingly known as “Mama Cancer” by the locals, Kaliisa has already achieved so much in such a short time - even catching the eye of Silicon Valley. It was selected to take part in a project co-sponsored by Google and chosen as one of the top 10 AI start-up firms founded in Africa.

In April 2020, the young trailblazer made history when she became the first Ugandan to make it on the cover of Forbes Magazine: Africa 30 under 30.

The group’s annual revenue grew to $700,000 by 2020 from $5,000 in 2016 – an amount Kaliisa got through a scholarship while studying medicine at university.

Growing up in Uganda, the innovator’s family depended on fish farming for livelihood which is something that the entire family was involved in.

Kaliisa says that her father would catch the fish in the ponds and sell it, while she along with her brother and late mother were responsible for roasting the catch using charcoal to preserve it.

Being exposed to the charcoal smoke for 12 years is what caused the respiratory diseases and the cancer in Kaliisa and her late mother, she explained. 

Image courtesy of Shamim Kaliisa

The birth of Keti

Prompted by her struggles and loss, she founded a company in 2015 to facilitate remote doctor-patient interaction. After incorporating AI-guided e-oncology services to detect breast and cervical cancer, CHIL AI Lab was officially created in 2017.

The nature of methods used to screen for certain cancers like cervical cancer can be extremely intrusive, uncomfortable and delay diagnosis altogether, especially for women who live in rural, poorer areas and don’t have easy access to services.

But, CHIL’s AI powered mobile app, Keti, allows women to consult oncology experts online which offers a less invasive and speedier way to diagnosis.

There are also options for those who don’t have access to smartphones - offering a dial in version of the AI chatbot and web access. Furthermore, it runs clinics at a district level in the countries providing its tele-health services for those who need screening.

Through Keti, users can have specimen samples collected and sent to laboratories for testing, their results interpreted, as well as advice given on the next steps.

Keti is used by 410,010 women in Uganda, South Sudan, Botswana and DRC. As the app has left quite the impression, the company has received requests to bring its tele-oncology services to other countries, Kaliisa said.

However, it is currently only available in the continent as the group is awaiting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has also applied for patents in countries outside of Africa.

Alongside the app, Kaliisa has also created accessible machine learning and AI-guided self-test kits to make diagnosis of cancers accessible.

Currently the self-test kits are on hold as she awaits FDA approval, so instead patients visit the clinics in their district where they can buy the kits to get tested.

The breast cancer self-test kit costs $30 while the cervical kit costs $15 - both are one-time use only. To be more sustainable, Kaliisa hopes to make the kits reusable once she receives approval.

CHIL AI Lab works with organised women’s groups across villages offering training on the need for early screening and how to help the women in their districts. The groups pay a yearly fee for the online training from oncologists.

Despite all the progress Kaliisa - who strives to provide services for the poor without exploiting them - has experienced immense opposition. This is from many people including fellow doctors who see her innovation as a threat to their business and jobs.The innovator has also received death threats, while her husband has been dragged into the attempts to 

undermine and stop Kaliisa.

Image courtesy of Shamim Kaliisa

Drones services

Another ground-breaking facet of CHIL is its drone services to help deliver specimens between clinics and to patients on a daily basis. Founded in 2019, the drones also take the tests from the district clinics to more advanced hospitals if needed.

Fintech and smart savings

Continuing her stride to help women in villages and rural areas fight cancer, the CEO pushed her mission one step further.

Under the fintech aspect of the group, patients can save money for upcoming cancer tests using smart card savings, which allow them to transfer small amounts of money from their mobile wallets to the cards.

This process allows the patients to slowly save for their next visit, so when the time comes for a review test, they can use their cards to pay for the costs. The group also offers top-up cards for the dial option for those who don’t have smartphones.

It particularly benefits those who live below the poverty line who might have to carry out monthly tests or multiple tests a month.

Kaliisa explains that cancer patients are required to do new tests every time they visit the hospital. This allows the doctors to see how the patient is responding to the medication.

But this can get very expensive for those who are on lower incomes and could discourage people to carry on with the vital tests or even worse stop seeking help altogether.

“As a cancer survivor I can tell you that these tests are very expensive and in the end many people don’t carry them out due to a lack of money,” Kaliisa says.

The cards contain not just the funds for the tests - they also store the details of the women and their progress so far. This is to help the doctors and the organised women’s groups easily track things.

The service, which has over 25,220 users, launched as an additional product in 2018 and is currently only available in Uganda and the DRC.

Solar technology

Women in Africa play a huge role in the agricultural workforce. The World Bank estimates that women make up 40% of the crop production industry in countries like Uganda, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

In Kaliisa’s native Uganda, 56% of workers in the sector are women.

CHIL aims to provide overall preventative protection from cancer. One aspect of the group is focussing on solar power by utilising technology which turns the sun into a refrigeration system.

This part of the company, which trades under Solerchil in Africa, is a joint venture with US solar cooling technology firm Solercool.

Its refrigeration tech provides safer ways to store and preserve food without being exposed to dangerous methods that could cause cancer such as charcoal smoke. It can also be used to store medicine.

The solar technology allows the refrigerators to freeze products up to -3 degrees Celsius - even when the surrounding area is 45 degrees.

Depending on the size of the products that need preserving and the size of the room, it costs a minimum $7,500 and up to $25,000 to install the cooling technology.

But it doesn’t stop there, the system can be installed in any sized rooms, lorry and can even be fitted in cargo containers.

It is currently available across several continents and in 17 countries including Uganda, Kenya, DRC, Ghana, Zambia, United States, Colombia and India.

So far, 505,000 farmers in Africa use the cold chain technology. Overall, it caters to a total of 14 million people across the globe. Its biggest customer numbers are based in India and Africa. By the end of 2021, it will also be available in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Image courtesy of Shamim Kaliisa

The impact of Covid-19, navigating a male dominated area and legacy of CHIL

Speaking on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the entrepreneur said that the crisis has laid bare the need for change in the industry.

There has been one silver lining with social distancing and lockdowns as more people are willing to use online healthcare services, Kaliisa explains. There has also been a boost in demand for its solar powered technology as farmers needed to preserve their food for longer periods of time while waiting for buyers due to restrictions.

Despite the success, Kaliisa said that working in a male dominated industry has not come without its challenges.

“Being a woman in a male dominated area has been my biggest challenge. In Africa it takes a long time to trust a tech company that has been founded and is led by a woman, especially when they think that certain firms need to be founded by men.”

Particularly in Africa, the 25-year-old thinks that many female innovators and business owners would have done more if they had better support and didn’t struggle to attract investors.

But this should encourage women to get in the driver seat and push forward, and not shy away from the industry, she points out.

Kaliisa added that despite the hardships and naysayers, “nothing makes her happier and motivated” than seeing a woman test early for cancer and that satisfaction outweighs everything else.

Ultimately, the innovator hopes to see the group expand all its services to 15 other countries across five continents - a move which could see it reach South America and Asia in a decade.

On the legacy of CHIL AI Group, Kaliisa hopes that the company is remembered as a firm that did “everything it could” to make cancer history.