New Study Investigates the Role of Blockchain-Based Data Capture & Crypto Incentives in Improving Patient Outcomes
MMUST, the premier technology and innovation university in Kenya, and Immunify.Life, a transformative and self-sustaining healthcare ecosystem secured by blockchain, has entered into a partnership that will leverage MMUST’s academic and research prowess and the advanced tech infrastructure of Immunify.Life to address the issue of poor patient data collection, patient relapses, and misaligned incentives with a specific focus on HIV-positive patients in Kenya.
In the innovative new study, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) and Immunify.Life will use blockchain technology to redesign health data capture, transmission, and sharing processes as well as treatment incentives to improve the health outcomes of HIV-positive patients in Kenya.
This will be a 5-year collaborative effort, with the major goal being to improve patient outcomes and strengthen the performance of the Kenyan healthcare system. By carefully designing clinical studies in different regions across Kenya and addressing key healthcare challenges faced by some of the country’s most vulnerable populations, MMUST and Immunify.Life hopes to accurately identify the risk factors, causes, and obstacles faced by HIV patients in contracting HIV, receiving treatment, and adhering to their care regimens.
One of the key features of the first study – which will commence in August – will be the use of Immunify.Life’s token reward system in improving treatment adherence in HIV/AIDS patients. All of the relevant approvals (specifically from the Institutional Ethics Committee and the National Commission for Science, Technology & Innovation) have been granted to MMUST for using Immunify.Life’s technology platform for this study.
While Kenya has achieved a number of UNAID’s HIV 2020 goals, the country still has a long way to go, particularly in the areas of effective and sustained ART (antiretroviral treatment – the primary treatment for HIV/AIDS). About 70% of adults living with HIV in Kenya access treatment, but treatment coverage for children under the age of 15 is lower at about 60%. In Kakamega County where the MMUST and Immunify.Life study will be conducted, there are high prevalence, infection, and relapse rates for men, women, and children, making it the perfect location for a comprehensive, data-intensive study of HIV/AIDS and the socio-economic,…
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