The project was conceived out of Daiichi Sankyo's desire to carry out programs in line with its vision for 2030: To be an Innovative Global Health Company Contributing to the Sustainable Development of Society. In other words, in addition to offering innovation in health through medicines, the company also has the purpose of contributing to the development of society.² In this way, imagining the country's needs and designing solutions that collaborate with the community as a whole makes sense according to the company's purpose. Based on this principle, considering the size and diversity found in Brazil, opportunities were identified, and after some discussion and analysis, it was decided to delve into the possibilities of the Amazon region, as it is the region with the least investment in private social health projects in the country, so the impact of the program would certainly make a big difference in the lives of people and society.

The Amazon region

The Amazon region is surrounded by the Amazon rainforest, which covers much of northwestern Brazil and extends into Colombia, Peru and other South American countries. It is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, famous for its biodiversity. It is crossed by thousands of rivers, including the great Amazon River. Among the riverside cities, with 19th century architecture dating back to the beginning of rubber exploitation, are Manaus and Belém, in Brazil, and Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado, in Peru.⁴

The region covers approximately 7 million square kilometers and has the largest river basin in the world, with more than 20,000 navigable kilometers and the largest volume of fresh water on the planet. 9 Brazilian states make up the region: Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, Pará, Amapá and Tocantins.⁵ ⁶

Because of this magnitude, the biggest challenge to implementing any project in the region is logistics, and specifically in health projects, knowing local customs and how the system works also becomes important so that the project really contributes to the good design already offered by the Brazilian Unified Health System, the SUS.

A survey of the region's health needs identified some of the most common diseases: Viral Hepatitis, Parasitic Diseases, Malaria, Dengue, STD/AIDS, Leprosy, Yellow Fever and Tuberculosis among the communicable diseases; and maternal mortality and CCU (Uterine Colon Cancer) among the non-communicable diseases .⁷ ⁸ ⁹

Specifically in relation to women's health, some data was found in line with the region's greatest needs: ⁹ ¹⁰

• a) High maternal mortality rate: Brazil 57.9/100,000 vs. North 82.5/100,000;
• b) High incidence of cervical cancer: Brazil 15.43 /100,000 / North 21.20 /100,00;
• c) Lack of data on breast cancer incidence: Brazil 61.61/100,000 / North 21.34/100,000;
• d) The need for greater family planning.

Within this context, it became clear that the feasibility study for any project in the region would involve: implementation time, logistics, knowledge of local health, outreach, sustainability, follow-up and local partnerships.

‍

The partnership with Américas Amigas

After a structured analysis of the possibilities for partnership, Daiichi Sankyo found Américas Amigas to be close in purpose and truly capable of meeting the region's major challenges in supporting these women.

The experience in serving low-income women and the logistical capacity, due to the mammography trailer, proved to be a major differential in carrying out this great project that would contribute so much to society.

In addition to training professionals working in the field of breast cancer and donating equipment and supplies, Américas Amigas has the expertise to donate breast cancer detection and diagnosis tests to women in situations of social vulnerability, either through actions in partnership with philanthropic clinics and hospitals or actions in a mobile unit.

‍

A common purpose

With the partnership in place, Daiichi Sankyo and Américas Amigas outlined the purpose of the project to guide all the necessary actions:

"Providing access to detection, diagnosis of breast cancer, training of professionals and patient navigation in low-income situations in the Amazon region, including women from riverside communities."

‍