Africa’s health system is skeletal, but despite the shortcomings of the continent’s healthcare sector, it has managed to do relatively well during the COVID-19 pandemic. While significantly better-equipped continents like the Americas and Europe have failed to contain the disease, Africa has recorded lower mortality rates and fewer COVID cases per million. But what could be the reason for this? Is it luck or something else?
According to some, the answer to this question lies in the continent’s demography. The average age in Africa is 19 – 20, which means that the continent is full of vibrant youth. They are much more receptive to innovative technologies than the older populations across the Americas and Europe. Blockchain technology, in particular, has helped the continent fight the pandemic and strengthen its fragile healthcare system.
Blockchain technology has primarily benefited Africa in two ways – by making things transparent and by ensuring faster supplies of material and data. The decentralized ledger system of Blockchain has provided a track-and-trace system that is leaps and bounds ahead of conventional systems, which are inefficient. This decentralized system will also help the continent to eventually meet its vaccination goals.
Exchange of supplies and patient information is also something that blockchain tech will affect in a positive way. If health information exchanges are accurate and rapid, deaths can be avoided, and a healthy supply chain can be maintained to ensure that lives aren’t lost due to inefficiencies. While the world is still grappling with the pandemic, Africa’s youth are taking to new technologies to help them ride the COVID waves.