According to India’s policy think tank which is Niti Aayog. They are reportedly seen working on the blockchain concept proof-of-concept (PoC) in order to the crackdown on the Drug Rackets in the country. Through this research of their’s, they are trying to counterfeit the drug supply in the country through illegal means.
The National Institute of Transforming India, is the first and foremost body of the country which helps the government to make policy’s which are favorable for people, as their new mission is that they have to complete by the year’s end the working of the PoC which is said to be ahead of the real-world rollout in 2019, according to a local publication i.e. Factory Daily.
A statement was given by an official of Niti Aayog whose identity is hidden by the everyone as he was not authorized to talk to the media: - “We are all taking those medicines and I am sure people are dying. One way to reduce that is put the entire supply chain on the blockchain.” The official also stated that the pharmaceutical companies and the government will be helped by this information. As both of them will be able to restrain the illegal drug supply in the country.
In 2017, a report was released by World Health Organization which stated that 20% of medicines which are sold in India are of sub-standard and fake. Also, 35% of the counterfeit drugs which are sold globally are exported from the country itself.
These are claiming that there will be special identification codes or numbers which will be allocated to every single medicine of the country as this will help the authorities to track the entire supply of the consignment and this will be done by using blockchain technology. So, that at every stage of supply the medicine will be checked with their unique id and this which will ensure that the authenticity of medicine.
As per this for the consumers to check their medicines authenticity there will be a smartphone app launched in which the consumer can scan the QR code or the barcode of the medicine and they can get aware of the authenticity of the medicine they will be consuming. This will also help them to verify the manufacturing sources of the medicine also its entire supply chain.
When the medicine is sold, the unique code “gets irrevocably audited on the blockchain” to ensure that the same ID isn’t duplicated to be used with spurious drugs, the official added.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is supposed to be investing around $28 Billion for the trial of this experiment. Though all are apprehensive about it.
“Fake drugs are a concern and if blockchain can help the industry to get rid of the problem we are up for it,” DG Shah, secretary general of industry lobby Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance said of the trial. “If the government is willing to consider it that is an additional cost and compensate it, the industry will have no objection,” he added.
According, to the recent reports the NITI officials are already negotiating themselves in a number of Blockchain PoC trials which will be held in different sectors of the country which will include education sector, healthcare, also the agriculture sector. The Indian government is trying very hard to achieve the blockchain system in the country both federally and stately, it also falls mandate in the line with the prime minister of the country who has called upon the rapid adaptation of this technology in the country.
