Applying blockchain to good causes is a must

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It is a sad fact that a disease like AIDS still carries a stigma that can often prevent people from seeking help, information, or treatments that could prevent its spread. While decades of campaigning and medical research have ensured that people in developed democracies have access to regular testing and medications that make HIV nearly undetectable, other parts of the world are not so lucky.

At AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, held in Munich last month, a wide range of charities and medical organizations came together to discuss how the current donation model could be improved so that issues around privacy, cost and efficiency were not as major barriers to donation.

Take, for example, the case of a young man in Sub-Saharan Africa who may be a member of the LGBTQ+ community and is concerned that speaking to doctors or government agencies could lead to people finding out about his status. Even if the doctor he speaks to respects patient confidentiality, medical records can be lost and cyberattacks can lead to personal information being leaked to third parties, which would understandably be a real deterrent.

Blockchain as a solution

The Elton John AIDS Foundation recently launched a new donation model using Partia blockchain technology, which allows smart contract technology to automate the release of funds according to predefined conditions. This reduces the need for operational auditing by ensuring that money is used as intended. It also eliminates the need for intermediaries, and distributed ledger technology provides transparency where every transaction is recorded, reducing the need for third-party auditors to verify that funds are received and spent as intended.

In addition to transparency, DLT can facilitate peer-to-peer interactions between donors and recipient organizations, and eliminate traditional intermediaries such as transportation companies, operations managers, and distributors who must be compensated for their time. The elimination of intermediaries can also go hand in hand with reduced administrative costs associated with managing and distributing funds, allowing more money to go directly to the intended purpose. The elimination of these intermediaries will inevitably leave some people worse off because their work is no longer required, but it will create a more streamlined process for donating to those most in need.

More importantly, it allows people to maintain their privacy and anonymity in places that were not previously possible. Using blockchain allows people’s identities to be hidden behind a series of letters and numbers that the user controls and cannot identify. Of course, there are user experience issues, such as miscopying long addresses or losing crucial passwords, but it provides a basic portal for people in need to seek help. As of 2021, approximately 78% of people living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa were receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, access to antiretroviral therapy can vary greatly from country to country. New technologies and approaches have the potential to address the current access gaps that some people face. While HIV is often associated with certain at-risk groups, such as people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and sex workers, these groups do not account for the majority of new HIV infections in Eastern and Southern Africa. In 2021, approximately 54% of new HIV infections in the region were among populations outside these key risk groups.

Distribution of new HIV infections by population group in East and Southern Africa in 2021 | Source: Statista

AIDS is just one disease and can affect anyone, but prejudices and old thinking have created a toxic legacy in which people continue to be unnecessarily infected and die prematurely. Now is the time to think fresh about how we address this crisis and how we use new technologies to educate, empower, and connect people with resources they previously could not access.

Blockchain is often criticized as a solution to a problem or a solution to all problems; while some advocates are overzealous in their evangelism, it has enormous potential for application in regions traditionally excluded from technology and services in developed economies. It is time for policymakers and aid agencies to take a more creative approach to addressing long-standing problems that have held back progress for decades. Blockchain technology has the potential to eliminate issues related to cost, friction, privacy, and data security. The time to use it is now; the consequences of inaction are too high.

Bakit Azimkanov

Bakyt Azimkanov is the head of communications at Partia Blockchain. Bakyt is an award-winning communications leader and experienced journalist. He has built his expertise working at renowned media companies such as BBC World Service, Thomson Reuters, and Radio Free Europe. Since then, he has led communications teams at Cardano and EY, among others. Bakyt has received numerous awards, including the European Union Fellowship and the George Soros Open Society Institute Fellowship. He holds two master’s degrees in business and financial journalism and communications and media studies.