Blockchain in healthcare: the Case of Coronavirus – Innovation & Tech Blog

Even before COVID-19 was considered a pandemic, the Chinese company Hyperchain built a transparent donation platform to raise funds to fight the outbreak.

It was an appropriate way to counteract the series of scandals over the handling of public donations and the distribution of aid that had damaged people’s trust in some state-supported charities. Some hospitals blamed the Chinese Red Cross for poor distribution of masks and other donated materials, which left frontline medical personnel without resources to protect themselves.

The new Shanzong donation tracking platform allows donors to see where funds are most urgently needed and to track their donations at every stage. At the end of the process, it provides them with verification that the hospitals have received their money as medical supplies.

Continuing on the subject of supplies, the shortage of face masks has been one of the biggest challenges for China so far. The numbers speak for themselves, the daily production of masks in China is around 15.2 million units, with an estimated demand of between 50 and 60 million. It is this gap between supply and demand that has led to a sharp increase in counterfeit production.

To grab the bull by the horns and make the supply of medical supplies more transparent, Alipay, together with the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission and the Department of Economics and Information Technology, has launched a blockchain-based platform that allows users to track demand and supply chains for medical supplies. This includes the registration and tracking of epidemic prevention materials such as masks, gloves and other protective equipment.