Blockchain – Could it Prevent Next Pandemic?

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Blockchain technology is gradually transcending its use in the cryptocurrency sector and is proving effective for logistics management. The decentralized open ledger system can help to provide stable identity management, transparent ownership structures, and effective data mining. Now, blockchain is one of the latest technologies being deployed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease.

It is particularly useful in tracking the origin and checking the quality of medical goods supply. Blockchain is ensuring supplies of emergency products and helping the frontline medical workers control the coronavirus pandemic. 

During this ongoing health crisis, several governments have turned to blockchain solutions to manage their medical records, monitor the distribution of virus-prevention materials, and consult with the public.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has chosen to partner with leading technology and blockchain companies IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and decentralized platform Hacerato to build a distributed ledger technology-based platform to share data. The platform, MiPasa will be utilizing IBM’s enterprise-grade blockchain Hyperledger Fabric. The blockchain network will aid the exchange of data relevant to the pandemic. With its analytic tools and sources of data, the project aims to help citizens and public health officials to track coronavirus infection hotspots.

In the first two weeks of February, China introduced 20 blockchain-based applications designed to help counter the pandemic outbreak. 

SF Express, China’s second-largest courier service provider, is using blockchain technology to distribute vital supplies during the ongoing pandemic. The company said it is exploring the application of blockchain technology to the transportation of key supplies related to COVID-19. The system will be able to track, verify, and record each transaction in the logistics process, and identify the priority level of each order. The company’s blockchain system would be able to classify priority levels of supply as well as minimize the risks of counterfeit or unlicensed goods being shipped to designated regions, according to insidebitconis.com. SF Express is also reportedly using big data to build a trackable logistics network.

The Singapore-based blockchain company Algorand Foundation has launched an application called IReport-Covid to help the fight against the pandemic. It allows symptomatic and non-symptomatic users to directly report any information they wish about the virus anonymously by filling a survey in order to learn about how COVID-19 is affecting people in real-time.

In the Netherland, the distributed ledger technology firm, Tymlez, has offered its blockchain platform as the underlying technology to “model the medical goods ecosystem through a platform that matches supply and demand.” The company is part of a consortium of Dutch companies which has launched the “Tech against Corona” initiative. Participating firms will freely provide the Dutch government with access to innovative technologies that can be used in the fight against COVID-19, according to cointelegraph.com.

But Could the use of blockchain in the healthcare industry help to prevent future pandemics? Blockchain could be used to improve record management, healthcare surveillance, tracking disease outbreaks, management crisis situations and many more.

The biggest opportunity for blockchain in the healthcare industry is as a single source of truth for the data provenance, as the whole world is fighting against this outbreak. It could be used for record management purposes, to manage real-time data and importantly, to ensure its integrity, while identifying and eliminate misinformation about the coronavirus, according to finextra.com. The technology can also be used for surveillance purposes, tracking public health data surveillance, particularly for infectious disease outbreaks.