IBM and Intel fight against epidemics, Blockchain is your shield and sword

On several occasions we have exposed the wonders that innovation brings with Blockchain, changing markets from head to toe. This time we bring you an example of how it is affecting public health, especially with the fight against opioids in the United States.

The industry giant IBM has been working with the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). UU in a data project that could help change the course of the opiate crisis.

The CDC has helped IBM build a surveillance system based on Blockchain to help hospitals and doctors obtain information about prescriptions. The idea is to obtain data on what kind of people seek care, as well as understand how antibiotics and opiates are prescribed.

In late April, Bloomberg reported on the efforts of Intel and a number of health companies to create a Blockchain-based system to track where and how drugs escape from the supply chain.

By tracking medications from the manufacturer to their final destination, some think it might be much easier to control addicted people who are going to multiple doctors to get more prescriptions.

According to David Houlding, director of health, privacy and security at Intel, this system could "greatly reduce the opiate epidemic." Houlding stressed that the ultimate goal would be to get all drug companies and suppliers in the block chain so that regulatory agencies can provide oversight.

The ability of the FDA to have access to prescription replenishment behavior through a Blockchain-based database system could give them an immense view of how opioids are spreading in specific communities.

This type of coordination of potential information has attracted the interest of the FDA, which is also reportedly interested in seeing how Blockchain can be used when it comes to sharing medical records.