TruScreen Bangladesh: Ministry, NICRH and DocTime engagement advances Indian subcontinent strategy
TruScreen Group Limited (NZX/ASX: TRU) completed a product presentation and training visit to Dhaka, supporting its local distributor Xerox Medica Ltd. The visit ran from 25 to 29 October 2026, as the company expands across the Indian subcontinent.
Dr Carolina Velasquez, Medical Affairs and Training Manager, and Ms Sumaya Mozumder, Business Development Manager for the Indian subcontinent, delivered three days of presentation and training at the National Institute of Cancer Research & Hospital (NICRH) on 26 to 28 October 2026. Bangladesh forms part of TruScreen’s co-ordinated Indian subcontinent strategy.
Key points from the visit:
- A presentation to key decision-makers from the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Discussions focussed on supporting a proposed national community screening model led by an all-female team of nurses and midwives
- The proposed program would support Bangladesh’s efforts to achieve the WHO’s cervical cancer screening target of 70% by 2030
- A device demonstration and user training with digital healthcare provider DocTime, opening a potential channel to reach women in the private health system
Who TruScreen met in Dhaka
The visit covered three meetings:
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Dr Velasquez presented TruScreen’s technology and clinical evidence to Dr Md. Nurul Islam and his team at the Directorate General of Health Services. Discussions centred on deploying TruScreen in community clinics and on the connected screening results portal, which offers the Government access to population-level screening data, including abnormal result rates by upazila (sub-district) and region.
- NICRH: The team presented the product at NICRH in Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh’s national cancer institute and a leading referral centre. The session built awareness of TruScreen among senior clinicians and key opinion leader support for its adoption.
- DocTime Limited: The team visited the headquarters of DocTime, a Bangladeshi digital healthcare provider, for a hands-on device demonstration and knowledge-exchange session. Dr Velasquez provided device training for DocTime and Xerox Medica staff, preparing the local teams for clinical demonstrations and anticipated sales activity.
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Why Bangladesh is a large, under-screened market
Cervical cancer screening aims to find pre-cancerous changes before they become cancer. In Bangladesh, the gap between the number of women at risk and the number screened is wide, according to the ICO/IARC Information Centre on HPV and Cancer (March 2023, based on GLOBOCAN 2020 estimates; screening coverage estimate 2019).
- Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in Bangladesh
- An estimated 8,500 new cases and 5,000 deaths occur each year, the equivalent of around 14 women dying every day
- More than 64 million women aged 15 years and over are at risk
- Estimated screening coverage remains below 10%
Bangladesh’s national screening program relies on visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). Discussions during the visit reinforced the key barriers to scaling VIA: limited trained personnel to screen every eligible woman, high false-positive rates that require costly recall visits with many women lost to follow-up, and cultural reluctance among women to undergo invasive pelvic examination.
TruScreen states that its non-invasive, real-time, AI-enabled device will overcome these barriers. According to the company, it delivers an immediate result at point of care without laboratory infrastructure or specialist pathology, can be conducted by trained nurses and midwives in community clinics, and allows women with an abnormal result to be referred directly to a specialist.
The independent COGA study, covering 14,982 women across 64 hospitals in China, is the largest opto-electronic cervical screening trial to date and reported 90% sensitivity for severe pre-cancerous lesions.
Tony Ho, Executive Chairman
“Bangladesh has one of the largest under-screened populations in the world, with a government looking for scalable solutions to meet the WHO’s 70% screening target by 2030.”
Mr Ho added that the device “allows nurses and midwives to screen women in community clinics with an instant result in the same visit…”
Opportunities progressed and Indian subcontinent strategy
Bangladesh pipeline
TruScreen outlined four areas of activity in Bangladesh. All remain at the discussion, proposal or pending stage.
Outside the Bangladesh-specific talks, funding is a separate track: TruScreen’s three UNITAID proposals, seeking up to US$57.3 million across 14 countries, were not selected, leaving four live grant applications with decisions due by 31 December 2026.
- Government programs: Xerox Medica is in discussions with the Ministry of Health regarding cervical cancer screening programs utilising TruScreen. The proposed projects would be funded by the Bangladesh Government and development partners, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
- NGO funding: Xerox Medica is progressing a grant application with the Shariatpur Development Society, a national NGO.
- Regulatory: Product registration for Bangladesh is pending to support volume procurement.
- Awareness: Joint awareness initiatives targeting women through social media channels are being developed with Xerox Medica.
India and Nepal in parallel
Bangladesh is one of three priority markets in TruScreen’s Indian subcontinent strategy. Together, India, Bangladesh and Nepal are home to more than 1.6 billion people, including 546 million women of screening age.
| Market | Distributor | Status | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | Xerox Medica Ltd | Product registration pending | n/a |
| India | Renovate Biologicals | Preparing for product launch; exploring collaborative opportunities with national NGOs, including PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) | Product registration expected December 2026 |
| Nepal | Nova Biointermedicx Pvt Ltd | Nova elected to represent TruScreen after evaluating other screening technologies | Submission in government tender opening November 2026 |
What happens next for TruScreen in the subcontinent
The announcement sets out the following next steps:
- India: Product registration is expected in December 2026, with Renovate Biologicals preparing for product launch.
- Nepal: Nova Biointermedicx Pvt Ltd will submit the TruScreen technology in a government tender opening in November 2026.
- Bangladesh: Product registration is pending, while Xerox Medica’s discussions with the Ministry of Health and the Shariatpur Development Society grant application continue.
India and Nepal are progressing in parallel with Bangladesh, according to Mr Ho.
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