Background

According to the UN, while 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, billions of people live in remote and underdeveloped places far away from medical attention. In consequence, according to Forbes, half the world’s population has limited access to diagnostics, especially people in remote locations where simple routine exams like mammograms are still a distant reality. 

In these remote areas, many premature deaths could be avoided with just a simple test. That is why we partnered with KDOG to create Dogs Without Borders — a first-of-its-kind initiative that uses medical dogs to sniff out disease in remote areas where doctors and diagnostics are out of reach. Dogs Without Borders rescues dogs waiting to die in shelters and trains them to save people in isolated locations.

By just sniffing odor samples from locals, dogs can diagnose diseases before it is too late, saving human lives in consequence.

Idea

We partnered with KDOG, a project founded by the internationally renowned Curie Institute, to create Dogs Without Borders — a first-of-its-kind initiative that uses medical dogs to sniff out disease in remote areas where doctors and diagnostics are out of reach. Dogs Without Borders rescues dogs waiting to die in shelters and trains them to save people in isolated locations.

Detection is possible thanks to a bone-shaped “odor collection kit” handed to locals with all they need for the collection: instructions, soap, gauze and a thermal ziplock bag for the sample. The kit is designed to withstand harsh environments. After collection, the odor samples are sniffed by the dogs. The sooner they sniff them, the sooner patients can be sent for further analysis and treatment.

Cancer is just the beginning for us, we’re expanding to other diseases and countries.

Strategy

According to the UN, half the world has limited access to diagnostics, especially those living in remote areas. On the other hand, new data shows that dogs can detect Cancer, Malaria, COVID-19, diabetes, Parkinson’s among other diseases by sniffing out odor samples.

Some of those studies started in Paris with scientists at the Curie Institute, through their KDOG division, which has investigated the potential of dogs detecting disease for years. With over 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, dogs are able to detect Cancer in very early stages with 100% accuracy, even before a tumor is formed. 

Dogs Without Borders saves dogs from shelters and trains them to detect disease in communities where doctors and diagnostics are out of reach. It’s an entirely new approach to diagnostics that is proven to be as effective – in some cases even more accurate – than conventional diagnostics.

Execution

We started designing our bone-shaped “odor collection kit” in April of 2022. The kit contains everything locals need to perform the collection themselves, and it’s designed to withstand the harshest environments. 

Dogs started being rescued and trained also in April last year, and they became ready about 6-8 months later. Then, in January of this year, we started taking them to remote communities, including the Amazon forest in Brazil, the Sahara desert in Morocco and some small villages in Spain, places where the closest hospital is often hundreds of miles away. 

According to scientists, dogs can be more accurate than our best diagnostic machines, but way cheaper, which makes them a scalable solution for areas that lack the financial resources and infrastructure to run expensive laboratory equipment. 

Kdog is currently in talks with the federal government of countries such as Brazil to make dogs part of the public health system.

Outcome

Since January 2023, over 1,000 patients have been reached and diagnosed, across three different continents, including Amazon Forest natives in Brazil and nomads in the Sahara desert in Morocco. The collected samples not only help save lives that could be lost if patients go undiagnosed, but they also become a tool for future research and dog training. With dogs being able to detect diseases like cancer with 100% accuracy, the governments in certain countries like Brazil are already in conversations with KDOG to make our four-legged friends part of the public health system. 

Thanks to our affiliate program, Dogs Without Borders is expanding operations to tackle many other diseases such as malaria, COVID-19, diabetes, and Parkinson’s among others. 

Dogs Without Borders is now on its way to become an independent NGO that can reach millions living in communities where doctors and diagnostics are out of reach.