In 2020, Papua New Guinea had a total population of approximately 9 million people. In that year, there were an estimated 39,000 people who developed TB. Among them, 11,000 were children. Moreover, there were 10,773 missing people with TB (of which 4,825 were children).
In 2016, Delft Imaging delivered a OneStopTB mobile X-ray clinic to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Papua New Guinea. The mobile clinic was custom made in a 10ft container, fitted with an EasyPortable digital X-ray system and also included CAD4TB, the artificial intelligence software to detect TB-related abnormalities on chest X-rays automatically.
In 2019, two OneStopTB clinics were procured, with EasyDR X-ray systems and CAD4TB, through the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and delivered to the country.
Then, in 2021, UNOPS procured three containerised X-ray clinics, each fitted with a CompassDR multi-functional digital X-ray system. The project also included the CAD4TB artificial intelligence software for each containerised clinic.
In early 2022, another CAD4TB software was delivered to Papua New Guinea to support TB screening and triage within the country.
We provided two Delft Lights, with CAD4TB software, to Papa New Guinea’s Ministry of Health in 2024.
All of the projects implemented included installation, training and maintenance services.
Making a difference
UNOPS covered the project of the X-ray and CAD4TB installation in their news article ‘Strengthening Access to Healthcare in Papua New Guinea’. In it, they wrote: “Having this X-ray capacity within these premises means a lot for [the National Capital District] public health services,” said Rueben Kitembing, Director of Curative Services at Gerehu Hospital. “Our clinical services will be very much improved. We have more than a hundred people here each day who would require an X-ray.”
In 2024, a study from Papua New Guinea shows CAD4TB’s effectiveness in detecting TB. Among 7,970 participants, CAD4TB flagged 1,116 for abnormal chest X-rays, identifying 69 Xpert-positive TB cases. This detection rate of 853 per 100,000 exceeds the national TB incidence rate of 432 per 100,000 in 2019. The study underscores CAD4TB’s potential to improve TB detection rates in TB hotspots with healthcare access barriers.
A 2024 study explored the implementation of CAD4TB (v6) in Papua New Guinea, focusing on its impact within a community-wide TB screening and prevention programme aimed at continuous quality improvement. The study highlights the effectiveness of CAD4TB in enhancing TB detection and treatment efforts.
