Can Blockchain Save Lives?

If you follow cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects, you're probably accustomed to world changing ideas that are in their infancy. However, one blockchain company is set out to not only change the scope of how the world works, but also to save lives! In the most industrialized nations throughout the world, we might not think too much about counterfeit drugs. We're likely aware that they exist but due to the method in which we acquire medicine we simply don't encounter the problem. However, worldwide there is a counterfeit drug crisis whether it applies to us or not. According to FarmaTrust, there are between 120,000 and 1,000,000 counterfeit drug related deaths each year. Many developing countries don't have the checks and balances in place to make sure their supply chains are filled with legitimate prescription drugs, which means there is room for substitutions and replacements that may look like the correct drug, but are in fact deadly. They could either be deadly outright because of bad ingredients, or they could simply not fix the issue they were marketed to resolve which could also result in death. This is a huge, real-world problem that needs fixing, but how?

Source: Pixabay

How FarmaTrust will combat counterfeit drugs

FarmaTrust is a blockchain company that is set to fix this issue. By implementing an easy to use immutable ledger in all parts of the supply chain, the end user can merely scan the drug and be notified if it is valid or not. This means that whether you get your medicine through a pharmacy filling a prescription, or if you're in a less structured system where you are needing to purchase from an individual, you can check to see if the drug is valid before making the purchase. FarmaTrust works using two different tokens, FTT and ZOI. FTT tokens are staked to get ZOI tokens, which are in turn assigned to tracking products. When those products have been delivered and consumed and no longer exist, the ZOI tokens are burned and the FTT tokens are returned. This allows a unique ID to be registered for each product in the market that can then be validated using the FarmaTrust application.

The scope of the problem is even bigger than the 120,000 to 1,000,000 deaths per year that were cited earlier, on many occasions, the false drugs that are distributed are non-lethal and meant to cure non-lethal ailments. In these cases, the end users may suffer additional pain or sickness before they get better. FarmaTrust's whitepaper cites a PWC report that shows up to 30% of drugs in circulation are fake and can contain ingredients such as rat poison, floor wax, and industrial chemicals. The ability to recognize and combat these counterfeit drugs is valuable to every party involved (except the criminals) but it is not the only benefit that FarmaTrust seeks to bring to the industry.

Source: Pixabay

How FarmaTrust will combat inefficient supply chains

In addition to benefiting developing countries and saving lives, FarmaTrust will also streamline supply chain management of medicines worldwide. This will save tons of money for all parties involved. They will tackle issues such as integration with existing supply chain management platforms, capability for smart contracts via the Ethereum network, encryption of data in-transit for security, automated compliance with government standards across the world, and artificial intelligence to optimize the supply chain. Imagine an international drug manufacturer that simply assigns unique serial numbers to each item it produces and logs them in their supply chain management system, stakes FTT tokens and assigns ZOI tokens to each item. Then, they ship out their products knowing that all regulatory compliance measures needed have been written into their smart contracts and the blockchain.

Source: FarmaTrust Whitepaper

They could do a couple things with the time and money they've saved using this method. They could sell their product at a lower price and become more competitive and gain ground in the market, or they could even decide to move those savings into more research and development for new cutting edge drugs that will change the world. Indeed, the capability to potentially save 120,000 to 1,000,000 lives is appealing, but what about the potential R&D improvements that could lead us to the drugs of the future that will prevent multiple-millions of deaths each year for things such as multiple forms of cancer, multiple sclerosis, alzheimers/dementia, and other afflictions that impact so many people in the world today.