MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Khatoon

One-line solution summary.

A mobile-based app for early detection and management of female health related problems.

What is your solution?

Khatoon is a mobile based app that will provide monthly reminders for breast self examination, PCOS symptoms tacker and overall health management using self-diagnostic quiz. In case of any symptoms for conditions like breast cancer, cervical cancer ,[UTI], PCOS and other conditions, patients will be connected with doctors using Telemedicine. Connecting potential patients with doctors at a very early stage of disease through Telemedicine will help patients get right guidance about further tests and treatment of their disease. Moreover, app will also include several other user friendly features:

Instant message feature powered by AI technology to get a better understanding of a problem
A question list to assist when talking to health professionals using Telemedicine
Tracking and recording monthly health through charts and graphs which can be shared with doctor when discussing a health concern.
Menstrual cycle tracker
Availability of app in all local languages of Pakistan.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

Around 50% of Pakistan’s population is female. However, female health is still the most neglected topic in country. (i) Lack of awareness ,(ii) delayed referral to appropriate facilities and late diagnosis are major problems when talking about female health.

(i)Women are diagnosed at a very later stage because of poor health literacy about female centric problems. Unfortunately, basic things like sex-ed are non-existent at school and college level. Girls do not have basic knowledge about menstruation, let alone female health .

(ii)Moreover, apart from the lack of disease awareness and management , women, mostly in rural areas, are reluctant to visit gynecologists ,oncologists or endocrinologists for treatment despite having symptoms of the disease. This reluctance results in most patients remaining untreated, leading to various future complications.

Pakistan ranks 8th globally in breast cancer deaths and has the highest percentage in entire Asia. Moreover, Pakistan has the highest cases of Breast cancer among all other cancers(WHO). With delay in diagnosis, chances of survival decrease. Unfortunately, in Pakistan Breast cancer is mostly diagnosed at a very later stage due to lack of awareness. Thus, it is one of the leading cause of death in country.

PCOS is the most common hormonal disorder affecting women of reproductive age worldwide. Globally, PCOS has a frequency from 6-33% . However, in Pakistan experts are expecting a very high ratio as per their studies, ranging from 19-33%.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

WOMEN: (i)Discussion of female centric topics is considered a taboo not just in school but also within homes. Girls are reluctant to ask questions to their mothers and mothers are reluctant to answer their questions.

(ii)When talking about adults, women as mothers and wives prioritize their family over themselves and hardly take out time to visit doctors, when they observe any symptoms.

Through Khatoon I want to make right guidance about female health more accessible. Khatoon will be a platform where girls can discuss their concerns with doctors without any reluctance and shame. Women can take out time without any need to go outside to discuss their concerns. As someone who lived undiagnosed with PCOS for three years, I had to go through a lot, irregular periods, depression, obesity, insecurity. If I were diagnosed earlier I could have better managed my condition. Through Khatoon I want to make that happen by providing necessary guidance and information accessible to every woman in Pakistan.

Female health professionals: Majority of medical students in Pakistan are women. However, percentage of women practicing after getting their degree is very low. Most of the female doctors are unable to practice due to family pressure from their in-laws, upbringing of their children and due to other sociocultural factors. Through Khatoon female doctors in such scenarios can work from home and can help themselves financially. Moreover, they will also become active citizens by giving back to other women of their country.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

Talked with gynecologists and oncologists to better understand the patients they deal with. From these discussions I realized that patients mostly approach doctors at a very later stage with many complications. I also realized how management and tracking on monthly ,if not weekly, basis was essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid complications
Did extensive research and compiled stats, flow charts and , public health studies, research papers to gain an in depth knowledge about female health. Making me understand that awareness among Pakistani women is extremely essential.
Discussed with peers ( age17- 19) about female centric health problems. I came to this conclusion that how girls of my age face similar problems but are unable to talk about these with anyone. I realized how intervention of health professionals and authentic information was required for girls of my age.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Improving healthcare access and health outcomes; and reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities (Health)

Our solution's stage of development:

Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

As my project is still at concept stage so I have invested my time in customer discovery and in becoming a proximate leader by better understanding the problem and people who are affected by this problem. I also utilized my time in getting better understanding about social entrepreneurship. Consulted SOLVE toolkit and also completed social entrepreneurship course by MIT. I am hopeful that all the knowledge which I gained will help me in later stages of development

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Lahore, Pakistan

Team Lead:

Qateen Zahra