World Health Organization Rolls Out Blockchain Platform to Battle COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) has collaborated with top blockchain and tech firms to rollout a distributed ledger technology (DLT)-powered platform for distributing info related to coronavirus pandemic.

The blockchain platform, named MiPasa, is developed using the Hyperledger Fabric and intends to facilitate “early detection of COVID-19 carriers and infection hotspots.”

MiPasa has been introduced in collaboration with tech giant IBM, Oracle, enterprise level blockchain powered platform provider Hacera and IT behemoth Microsoft. The platform supports to pave way fir “fully private information sharing between individuals, state authorities and health institutions.”

The venture benchmarks solitary location and health info is ‘partitioned’ on the platform to collect worldwide glimpses while guaranteeing patient seclusion, with MiPasa detailing the platform as a “verifiable information highway.” MiPasa will soon host a series of freely accessible analytics tools.

According to the project’s website:

“MiPasa can help monitor and foresee local and global epidemiological trends and detect likely asymptomatic carriers by feeding big data on infection routes and occurrences to powerful AI processors around the world.”

Several national health associations are also giving their support to the venture, including the U.S, European, and Chinese Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Hong Kong Department of Health, the Government of Canada and China’s National Health Commission. The coronavirus pandemic has brought to limelight several applications based on blockchain technology.

Notably, the UAE (United Arab Emirates) Ministry of Community Development (MOCD) is implementing DLT-based systems for identity validation and sharing of official documents, permitting clients to safely interact with the MOCD without leaving home.

Blockchain technology has also been recommended as the most effective way to distribute stimulus package across the US, with some crypto advocates even recommending the early launch of DLT based “digital dollar.”

China has employed blockchain in several apps to back its initiatives to battle COVID-19, utilizing DLT to trace the virus spread, medical documents and the sharing of medical supplies and charity payments.

Notably, a Chinese journalist working for South China Morning post has also utilized Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to circumvent censorship and release an interview with a doctor serving in the Wuhan province.