Dogs Without Borders

Over half of the world's population still has limited access to critical medical diagnostics – especially those living in remote communities. Early detection is vital to survive cancer and many other diseases, yet in some regions, patients must travel for days to reach hospitals and medical centers to perform basic health checks.   
 
“Dogs Without Borders” is a project created by VML Health for KDog, a canine medical detection unit founded by the renowned Curie Institute in Paris. The project trains rescued dogs to detect cancer and other disease so they can provide valuable medical detection resources to remote communities.

Dogs Without Borders is a unique project that delivers a scalable solution to two long standing issues – abandoned dogs left to die and remote communities without basic diagnostics.

Dr. Carla Ismael

CEO, KDog

For many women in remote areas, mammograms are a distant reality. Access to medical care is limited and these women must travel long distances to visit medical facilities. Doctors and diagnostics cannot get to them, so we needed a solution that could.

Our teams were amazed by the number of stray dogs in remote locations, and also how hard it was for these communities to access healthcare.

As our understanding of the accuracy of medical detection dogs developed, we asked what if we could train these stray dogs to detect cancer in their local communities?

In its first year this project has diagnosed hundreds of women in remote areas across three continents. SFBO, our client, has also had enquiries to turn "Dogs Without Borders" into an NGO in its own right.