Blame it on unhealthy lifestyles, mounting work stress or any xyz reason, diseases (even those unheard of until a few years ago) are now common talk everywhere. Inevitably, there is a proportional increase in the manufacture of drugs to find a possible cure to these diseases. Unfortunately, there exist certain individuals/groups in the society who find a way to maximise gains by indulging in malpractices such as supply of counterfeit drugs.
Fake Drug Business – A Potential Health Threat
The very root of the problem lies in the fact that the whole supply chain of drugs is very long. The raw material supplier for a particular drug is at the entry point of that chain, which finally ends at the patient who purchases the drug. In this entire long chain, some people with ill intentions sneak their way in by mixing fake drugs low on quality and high on health hazards with the other authentic, superior-quality medicines.
These counterfeit drugs end up being consumed by the end customer (patient), which may not only prove futile in curing the condition but also result in a number of side effects, sometimes even fatal. Not to mention the effect fake drug supply has on the pharmaceutical industry, costing it unimaginable monetary losses. The doctors in the supply chain aren’t spared either – the entire blame for the medicine not working or causing health hazards comes on them, which eventually results in loss of credibility for them in the market.
Blockchain Technology Can Help Find a Solution
So far we understand that the problem of fake drugs emerges from and lies in their supply chain. Therefore, it should be addressed there itself and the answer lies in using the innovative blockchain technology.
Blockchain is one of the best decentralized applications in healthcare that facilitates recording all data related to the manufacture and supply of drugs in the most transparent manner. In other words, you can literally secure all drug data on a trusted blockchain-driven network. You can also know all that’s going on at every step of the now visible supply chain which includes the manufacturers, suppliers, vendors, distributors, partners, and customers.
By bringing in transparency into the system via blockchain-powered drug supply chain, any possible alterations, forgery, or misrepresentation of data on a virtual permanent record can be avoided.
How Would Blockchain Technology Work?
It starts from labelling all the drug bottles and packs with serial numbers and scanning all the packages so that they are recorded permanently on the blockchain-driven network. These records can be made for every single point on the supply chain – right from when the drug leaves the factory to when it reaches the pharmacy.
Moreover, the blockchain technology can help gain access to records of other significant drug details. This includes information about drug location and temperature, which can be obtained by attaching IoT-enabled (Internet of Things) devices to the drug packages.
Final Thoughts
Decentralized applications in healthcare like blockchains can greatly help make the entire drug journey completely visible to all its stakeholders. This could mean reducing time delays, lowering costs, and avoiding fraudulent practices midway.
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