When Rwandan villager Lillian was diagnosed with cervical cancer, the 30-year-old feared that her life was over. But a new gadget aimed at patients in low-income countries offered her hope. “The medical diagnosis was very scary; my husband couldn’t believe it,” Lillian not her real name told. “We had heard of people dying of cancer and that it was incurable, so it was a very scary moment.” Her fears were not unfounded. cervical cancer is a notorious “silent killer” of women, especially so in poor countries that lack affordable treatment and diagnostics. In Rwanda, it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, attacking 42 out of every 100,000 women, three times the global average, according to national statistics. The stigma and fear surrounding the disease and its connection to HIv — a major risk factor for cervical cancer — means many Rwandan women are reluctant even to get tested. and those who are diagnosed often assume that treatment is out of bounds, unless they live in a major city. For Lillian, whose village is a three-hour drive east of the capital Kigali, the likelihood of emerging cancer-free, less than four months after diagnosis, seemed like a fantasy.