COVID 19 Pandemic; Fight the Blockchain Way!!!
From Confusion to Clarity.
Three months since the first case of SARS-COV-2, on March 11,2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, as a global pandemic. The number of confirmed cases worldwide stands at a staggering 1,920,618(as of 14-04-2020,08:30:59 AM- IST, according to John Hopkins Corona Virus Resource Center). From 3D printed hands-free door openers to basic ventilators, from telemedicine to delivery robots, the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the next wave of innovation. Disruptive technologies play a significant role in resolving major health challenges as fighting a pandemic needs a prompt, reliable and detailed management strategy. The graph below shows the cumulative number of cases in each country. Albeit the number of cases is increasing swiftly across the globe, a crucial element is still unknown which is the actual number of affected cases, as it depends on the extent to which testing is carried out, the frequency and scale of testing of asymptomatic cases and the quality of test results.
In many parts of the world, governments are trying to implement various mechanisms to curb the menace of the pandemic. The South Indian state of Kerala has already shown the way to limit the spread of the pandemic. But technology can come handy at the tough times.
Well!! How can we fight the pandemic in the Blockchain way??
On March 28, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has collaborated with major blockchain and tech companies to launch a platform for sharing data related to the COVID 19 pandemic. Well, How is it that Blockchain helps the WHO?
Distributed ledger-based Platform-MiPasa
The sudden spike in the number of cases throughout the world brought up several important concerns such as traceability, reachability, accessibility, verifiability, trackability, real-time monitoring, etc. The Distributed Ledger technology platform-MiPasa, described as an “information highway”, is developed in collaboration with IBM, Oracle, enterprise blockchain platform HACERA and IT corporation Microsoft on top of Hyperledger Fabric.
According to the project’s website
MiPasa is a global-scale control and communication system that enables a swift and more precise early detection of COVID-19 carriers and infection hotspots through seamless and fully private information sharing between individuals, state authorities and health institutions such as hospitals and HMOs, utilizing advanced technological tools and a dedicated user app.
MiPasa is designed to make it possible to synthesize data sources, address their inconsistencies, help identify errors or misreporting and seamlessly integrate credible new feeds. This new framework for streaming data uses both IBM Blockchain Network and IBM Cloud . MiPasa draws data from the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, the Israeli Ministry of Public Health, John Hopkins and others which would make it much easier to compile, collate and study information about the spread and control of the epidemic. This project aims to help health authorities, researchers and the general public to combat the current coronavirus pandemic more effectively.
Many organizations found the relevance of blockchain in the fight against COVID-19 and started to build a number of blockchain solutions
- The Ministry of Community Development (MOCD) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is introducing DLT-based identity authentication solutions and the distribution of official documents, enabling customers to communicate securely with the MOCD from home.
- As a part of “Tech against Corona” initiative, Netherlands-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm, Tymle has offered its blockchain platform to model the medical goods ecosystem.
- ANSA, Italy’s main news agency has launched ANSAcheck in collaboration with EY , the blockchain-powered tool to help users to verify the source of the news that appears on ANSA platforms or is distributed to other editorial publications or third parties such as social media networks or other platforms.
And the list continues… !!!!!
Below are some of the use cases where Blockchain technology can be used as a tool to assist with various aspects of containing the outbreak.
Tracking Virus Outbreak
Acoer, an Atlanta-based developer of blockchain-enabled software, has developed a tracker to gather real-time information on the Coronavirus using its HashLog data visualization engine. The HashLog dashboard communicates with Hedera Hashgraph, a distributed public ledger located in Dallas, to provide information to researchers, scientists, and journalists about how the virus spreads and evolves over time.
Low-Cost Testing
Genobank is one of the blockchain ventures at the forefront of today’s cryptocurrency news. As reports show, Genobank partnered with Telos foundation to develop an open-source app named Agerona that stores the test data on the Telos blockchain. The results will be submitted anonymously to the Telos blockchain. If given, the data should include the country of the user and the postcode for monitoring coronavirus spread.
Medical Materials Supply Chain Tracking
Alipay, along with the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission and the Department of Economy and Information Technology, has launched a blockchain-based network that allows users to track medical product demand and supply chains. It included documenting and monitoring of products for disease control, such as masks, gloves and other protective equipment.
Vaccine Development And Clinical Trials
Blockchain technology would in several ways be able to significantly improve the quantity and efficiency of patients recruited for clinical trials. Another form of the distributed ledger could allow individual patients to store their medical data using anonymous methods, making it available to trial recruiters, who could then reach out to the patients if their data qualify for the clinical trial
Summary
Blockchain does not, of course, avoid the emergence of new pandemics but it can establish the first line of defense so that agencies can make decisions and take decisive actions against the pandemic. It’s time to deploy blockchain applications and prioritize using it for potential emergencies. In the midst of misinformation and waves of false theories let’s use these technologies to flatten the confusion curve.
