CHAI and Unitaid invite technology developers, digital health innovators, and medical device manufacturers to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) to support the commercialization and deployment of AI-assisted Automated Visual Evaluation (AVE) for cervical cancer screening in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Cervical cancer is a preventable cause of death, but more than 350,000 women die from it every year. More than 90 percent of those deaths are in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to preventive services is limited. An AI-assisted Automated Visual Evaluation (AVE) tool – in which a healthcare worker uses a low-cost smartphone to take a photo of the cervix during a pelvic exam and receives a real-time positive or negative result – can augment the VIA process and improve screening.
Through this EoI and a subsequent Request for Proposals (RfP) process, CHAI and Unitaid aim to identify partners with the interest and capability to advance AVE market entry and availability through regulatory approval, commercialization, and deployment by the end of 2027.
Target Product Profile
A full Target Product Profile is included in Annex 1.
Submission requirements
Interested parties should submit a document summarizing:
- Company details, including current regulatory-approved AI-based product offerings and geographic footprint, especially any prior or current projects in CHAI/Unitaid focal countries: Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Potential approach to productize, secure regulatory approvals, and commercialize AVE
- Potential deployment (technical and implementation) and pricing approach
- Support needs for regulatory approval, commercialization, and scale-up and why such support would be necessary (See Section 5 below)
- Confirmation of willingness to do the following if selected through subsequent RfP process:
- Share relevant technical documentation and development plans;
- Pursue timely regulatory approval;
- Price the solution affordably for LMICs;
- Explore integration with digital health platforms;
- Engage local stakeholders and implementation partners;
- Collaborate under the terms of a future data sharing agreement;
- Agree to access commitments regarding affordability of AVE, including short and long-term maximum price targets, to be determined through collaborative consultation with the selected partner(s) and prospective public sector buyers; and
- Ensure that the AVE-related intellectual property (IP) including the future IP is managed in a manner which furthers and is consistent with the access commitments.
Respondents may be invited to respond to follow-up questions regarding their submission.
Timelines
- EoI released: 15 August 2025
- Deadline for questions: 26 August 2025
- EoI submissions due: 15 September 2025
Submission instructions
Submit the required documents via email to cxca.procurement@clintonhealthaccess.org with the subject line: “Expression of Interest – AVE”
- Responses must be in English and submitted by an authorized representative.
- Late submissions will not be considered.
For questions, please email cxca.procurement@clintonhealthaccess.org by 26 August 2025. Anonymized questions and CHAI responses may be made publicly available at a future date; if you would prefer your question remain confidential, please clearly indicate CONFIDENTIAL on your question submission.
