The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is holding a public meeting to discuss a new initative called “A New Era of Smarter Food Safety.” In an announcement on Sept. 17, the FDA said the consultation with international stakeholders — designed to debate public health challenges and the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act — will take place on Oct. 21. Specifically, the FDA intends to establish “a more digital, traceable, and safer system” to protect consumers from contaminated food. Efficient tracking The initiative proposes to deploy technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and sensors …

Blockchain network Harmony teamed up with a Lithuanian blockchain-powered health app firm to enable fast and secure health data sharing. According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Sept. 12, Harmony partnered with Lympo, a company developing an incentivizing platform for healthy lifestyle activities like walking or running, in order to boost the platform’s scalability. LYM tokens supported by Samsung Blockchain wallet Specifically, the Lympo app rewards users with LYM tokens for completing various daily challenges and allows spending the tokens to buy sports goods, gadgets and other products, the press release notes. In July 2019, the company announced …

The value of the blockchain technology in healthcare market is expected to surpass $1.6 billion by 2025, according to global market research and consulting firm Global Market Insights. In a press release published on Sept. 9, Global Market Insights estimated that the blockchain in healthcare market will grow due to a number of factors such as the implementation of government initiatives and increasing investment in the field. Growth factors for blockchain in healthcare Examination of medical outcomes, interoperability of health data and cost component reductions will further impact blockchain adoption, according to the outlook. The company states in the release: …

The Ugandan government has partnered with blockchain startup MediConnect to trace counterfeit drugs in the country, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 22. The President of Uganda, Yoweri Musevini, Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng, and other government officials granted support for MediConnect’s blockchain-based platform designed to deal with various issues in the pharmaceutical sector. Specifically, the government stated that it would deploy the platform for tracking counterfeit drugs. The platform enables the recording of prescription medication, thus identifying counterfeit drugs and preventing their distribution in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Per the Ugandan National Drug Authority, …

The volume of blockchain in healthcare market worldwide is forecast to reach more than $1.7 billion by 2026. In a press release published on July 16, consulting services to information technologies firm Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) has projected that the global blockchain in healthcare market on the global scale will reach over $1.7 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 48.1%. Based on geography, America purportedly dominates with the largest share in the global blockchain in healthcare market, wherein the United States is a mature market that hosts the greater adoption of smart technology in manufacturing …

Blockchain healthcare startup Solve.Care has partnered with Uber Health to transport patients, Solve.Care announced in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 9. Per the release, Uber Health’s transportation services will be integrated into Solve.Care’s personal healthcare coordination and administration app Care.Wallet. Within the app, patients will reportedly be able to schedule an Uber Health ride, which claims to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Furthermore, patients will also be able to pay for the service with their Care.Wallet and share the costs with family members, employers, insurers, or other relevant people. Uber …

The Binance Charity Foundation (BCF) has announced a new initiative for improving feminine health. BCF, which is the philanthropic arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, announced an alliance of 47 organizations to make a token geared towards women's health in a blog post on July 3. 46 organizations, including industry players such as Ripple, smart contract security firm Quantstamp, and digital assets venture company Blockseed Ventures, have joined BCF to promote the “Pink Care Token” (PCAT) geared to help improving feminine health in developing countries. PCAT is a redemption-only token issued on the Binance Chain and pegged to one year’s supply …

Contracts are good but can blockchain actually save lives? Maybe. Blockchain is already involved in tests for diagnosing medical conditions. Moreover, it is improving our daily health care routine. Many solutions that could possibly contribute to saving lives in the nearest future combine blockchain and other technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI). For instance, combining blockchain and AI might help build a distributed network of artificial neural networks that will potentially diagnose medical conditions with greater success than human practitioners. Such experiments have already been funded by the government of Austria, where a local startup is building a cancer-screening tool. …

Non-profit blockchain organization Iota Foundation has teamed up with digital food safety management firm Primority to track food allergens via blockchain, Iota tweeted on June 20. The new partnership aims to reduce risks associated with potentially fatal food allergens, targeting 220 million people with food allergy worldwide, as Iota noted in the tweet. The collaboration includes the development of a prototype of an application that would enable consumers to check food products for allergens, particularly those that go under usual radars for a number of reasons, including cases when products share production lines with allergen-containing products, according to a blog …

Canadian-based University of British Columbia (UBC) has announced a blockchain and distributed ledger technology training program for master’s and PhD students. UBC announced the development in a press release on June 11. The training path is reportedly designed to build competency around blockchain tech, and is focused on its application in four public benefit areas: health and wellness, clean energy, regulatory technology and Indigenous issues. UBC says they hope to train 139 students over a six-year period, and graduates should have the tools to evaluate blockchain solutions as well as identify opportunities for blockchain implementation. Canadian national non-profit research organization …

Only a limited number of healthcare firms in Europe are aware of the benefits of blockchain applications, according to a survey by American market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) released on June 6. As much as 44% of European healthcare organizations had never heard of distributed ledger technology (DLT), while only 12% of those are related to the tech in some sense, blockchain media outlet Ledger Insights reports, citing the IDC’ research titled “IDC Survey Spotlight.” Only 1% out of those 12% have a certain blockchain initiative in production, while 1% have multiple DLT projects, the report notes. Source: …

Blockchain firm Nebula Genomics has announced a collaboration with EMD Serono, the North American biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA — the world’s oldest operating pharmaceutical firm. The news was announced in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on June 11. As previously reported, Nebula is a blockchain-powered platform for genome-sequencing data, co-founded in 2017 by renowned geneticist Professor George Church and his Harvard colleagues Dennis Grishin and Kamal Obbad. The platform leverages blockchain technology in a bid to incentivize genomic data generation and sharing, and to lower the costs of genome-sequencing while preserving privacy and individuals’ control over their unique …