Blockchain: A Perfect Security Check for Medicines
Abstract
Introduction: Counterfeit medications pose a significant global health threat, resulting in ineffective treatment, adverse reactions, and fatalities, with an estimated 1 million deaths annually worldwide. Despite considerable investments in protective measures, the pharmaceutical industry struggles to curb counterfeiting, with approximately half of fake medications evading prevention measures.
Methods:This review highlights how blockchain technology is helping to guarantee medication authenticity and traceability in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Counterfeit drug detection is made possible by blockchain's decentralised ledger system, which provides an immutable, transparent, and safe platform for recording and verifying transactions.
Results: By leveraging blockchain, stakeholders can create a transparent tracking system for drug validity, enabling better testing, maintaining temperature control, and ensuring pharmaceutical legitimacy.
Discussion: Blockchain technology shows promise in reducing counterfeit drug circulation and improving traceability, as supported by research findings and case studies. However, challenges such as stakeholder agreement, interoperability, implementation costs, security vulnerabilities, and regulatory considerations must be addressed for widespread adoption.
Conclusion: Despite challenges, blockchain emerges as a beacon of hope, offering a secure, transparent, and traceable solution to combat drug counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical industry.
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