Behind the Curtains of Blame and Stigma: Blockchain and HIV | Notice

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Imagine living your life where every second person you meet would discriminate and stigmatize you. Just for a few seconds, put yourself in these shoes and think again: every second person you meet.

Horrible, right? I wish this was just my nightmares or just a catchphrase to start an article, but this is the reality for people living with HIV.

It starts in the 1980s when President Ronald Reagan’s general attitude towards the HIV/AIDS epidemic which they called the “gay scourge” was one of ignorance and stupidity. And after almost four decades, not much has changed. The results of stigmatizing people living with HIV are well documented and the data is terrifying: more than 50% of all people in the world hold discriminatory and negative views about people who test HIV positive, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV. /AIDS (UNAIDS).

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that around 38.5 million people were diagnosed with HIV at the end of 2021. If you break down the data from UNAIDS, you will see that Africa, Asia and Latin America combined have around 33 million people who tested positive. for HIV, about 85% of the total number of people living with HIV in the world.

I’m not talking about colonialism and Western supremacy (at least not here), but the trend is clear: if we want to stop the HIV pandemic, we need to take serious action, and we need to take it now. By using all the instruments available to us. Blockchain technology might be one of the surprising but most obvious answers if you think about it.

In 2014, UNAIDS launched the 90-90-90 Initiative, which aimed to achieve three goals: 90% of all people living with HIV are aware of the diagnosis, 90% of those diagnosed receive treatment and 90 % of those receiving treatment to suppress further development of the disease.

90-90-90: Treatment for all | Source: Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS

In order to achieve the 90-90-90 strategy, health facilities must be able to provide people with a wide range of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy and related HIV/AIDS products for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of HIV. /AIDS.

To put it simply, the 90-90-90 strategy requires the global transmission of the necessary HIV testing equipment as well as the ARV therapy itself, which in some cases could mean taking up to 4 to 6 tablets per day per person. . Thus, healthcare organizations need to be involved in the overall logistics of goods and commodities around the world.

Meanwhile, as we can clearly see in many reports, traditional supply chain management in developing countries, for example Uganda and Ethiopia, among the most vulnerable to the HIV epidemic , was unable to provide the necessary performance. The dysfunction of traditional supply chain management and the problems associated with logistics have been well documented for years.

The logistical problem is rooted in old-fashioned paper-based supply chain management and how easily corrupted it is. Blockchain technology has been used as an effective alternative solution to this problem, becoming the cornerstone of logistical improvements in recent years. Take a look at the latest news on tech and consulting giants entering the space: from Ernst & Young to IBM to the United States Department of Agriculture.

As a recent study has shown, the problem of access to ARV therapy and HIV/AIDS-related diagnostics unsurprisingly lies in weak procurement mechanisms and supply chain management systems. in developing countries. Similar conclusions were drawn in data from 137 countries in 2018. The most vulnerable countries tend to stay the same, suffering the most from the HIV pandemic. Digitizing supply chain management for medicines would significantly improve the situation in the most needed regions, and blockchain technology has already proven itself as a reliable solution for logistics.

Bearing in mind the world that people living with HIV live in, the world where half the population lives, let me stress this again: this means that one in two people you meet are quick to discriminate against them when their HIV status is revealed.

What could potentially help reduce prejudice and discrimination against people living with HIV? Well, I think anonymity would be one of the options.

In order to determine the HIV status of people at high risk of HIV and the most vulnerable communities as well as to track this data in a credible, anonymous and convenient way, there should be specific technologies that would allow this. Blockchain technology, again, is the ideal solution for this.

A few years ago, the LGBT Foundation decided to put HIV testing on the blockchain, which makes the whole process transparent and traceable. Therefore, the anonymity and credibility of the process could potentially help prevent HIV from spreading further among vulnerable populations and communities.

Another study came to a similar conclusion about the potential for collecting and storing data on blockchain: Blockchain is a nascent technology with its roots in cryptocurrency, and its features are well suited for HIV work. . Using this technology, information could be easily and credibly encrypted, then recorded and stored anonymously in a network.

Using blockchain for the healthcare industry already seems like a pretty profitable move, with some estimates predicting the industry to grow to $77.76 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39%. 53%. People living with HIV would naturally be part of this huge industry, promising to have a big impact.

Another innovative approach has been proposed by a scientist Jia Liu from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Henan, China. The study suggests the use of a blockchain-based decentralized application (dapp) to implement the so-called digital HIV vaccine (HDV) strategy.

HIV Digital Immunization Strategy Technical Flowchart | Source: JMIR Publications, 2022

As Liu says, A, B, C, and D represent individuals from populations at high risk of HIV. Tokens are exchanged when transactions take place between participants. Various transaction models may be used in different regions, and they may change as the situation changes. Behaviors in gray boxes are associated with blockchain. The participants in the gray boxes are the main users of the Dapp. CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dapp: decentralized application.

In summary, emerging technologies such as blockchain have the potential to dramatically change the situation with the prevention of new cases of HIV disease. First, it could be a support for beneficial and credible solutions for supply chain management to reduce corruption and weaknesses in paper-based logistics, especially in developing countries.

Second, blockchain in a healthcare system would, in general, help anonymize and protect the storage of sensitive data for people living with HIV status under the constant pressure of discrimination and stigmatization among the most vulnerable populations in the world. people at high risk of HIV and marginalized communities. .

Finally, there is a promising study that offers an innovative solution to solve the global problem of the spread of HIV with the implementation of permissionless public blockchain-based dapps.

Yes, the proposal is theoretical; it is rather a concept. In the meantime, it provides the framework and the strategy for its implementation, and it awaits the team of enthusiasts who would make it happen for the greater good of the world population.

The trickiest thing about the developed capitalist era we live in is that when new technologies emerge, the pioneers entering the space will be primarily seekers of income, new value, and quick cash. And, of course, there have been and always will be scammers or people trying to take advantage of this for their own benefit. In this race to create wealth, it is possible not to notice the real beneficial impact that these technologies can bring.

Blockchain technology obviously cannot solve all the problems that humanity faces. Yet it has great potential to solve at least one very specific and difficult problem: it can help millions of HIV-positive people living under stigma and discrimination to have a chance at a better life.

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