Inspiration
Kenneth, who is from Kenya has experienced first hand the problem of counterfeit drugs. After getting a prescription from his doctor, Kenneth goes to the closest pharmacy to get the drugs. However, two weeks later, his condition is actually worsening and he goes back to the doctor with the drugs that the latter prescribed. The doctor, notices that although the drugs Kenneth got had a seal, the seal was counterfeit and a near perfect imitation of the real seal. The doctor recommends a pharmacy to Kenneth where he goes and in a few days, he is feeling so much better! He got the original drug.
What it does
Hakika is an Android app which tracks a drug from the manufacturer down to the patient. We have two apps: Hakika and Hakika Supplier. Hakika is the client app while Hakika Supplier is the manufaturers and suppliers app. When a patient goes to get drugs, they would open the app and scan the barcode or QRcode on the drug. If the drug is Hakika verified, then the patient will get notified, otherwise, they are informed that it is not verified.
Business Model
Our service is completely free to the consumers which is important since our target audience are people in developing countries. We will plan to make monetize our app through verification of drugs from manufacturers. A manufaturer will pay a certain cost (cents) per each verification done by a patient. The reason why most manfacturers will pay to use this service is that, it will get rid of or at least reduce counterfeit drugs which will result in higher profit margins for the manufacturers.
How we built it
We built both Apps on Android Studio using Java. We used Firebase to authenticate users and solidity to write our blockchain backend.
How it works
After a Hakika verified manufacturer produces a product, they add it to the blockchain from the Hakika Suppliers app. This can be done programmatically, by taking a list of serial numbers of the drugs and converting it into qr codes then encoding them on drugs. When the drugs are shipped to a supplier, then the manufacturer and the supplier intiate a transfer on the Hakika Supplier app. Then, the next step would be for the suppliers to transfer the product to the pharmacy, where they would also initiatea a transfer on the Hakika Supplier app. Finally, the patient would use Hakika( patient app) to check for the validity of the drug. They also have an option of "More Details" where they can view how the drug was transferred. After the patient receives the drug, the unique number/qr code of the drug is removed from the blockchain, meaning that drug conterfeiters cannot reproduce the same qrcode
Challenges we ran into
We had challenges setting up Firebase login for our client side, mostly because the some of the versions of Firebase-auth we were using were not compatible with the versions of Google Play Services that we were using. We also had issues with scalability on the blockchain which affected how fast our app ran.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Learning to encode data into QR and converting data from QR to readable data. Bulding a functional and usable application on the the blockchain. Getting firebase authentication to work.
What we learned
Technically, we have learned how to buid applications on blockchain, how to use firebase authentication and also, refined our Android development skills. In addition, we have learned just how big of a problem production of counterfiet drugs is.
What's next for Hakika
Hakika holds so much potential. Our plan is to refine our app and pitch it to investors interested in health. If we can get them invested in the idea, then they can connect us with drug producers. A strength of this app is that once we get a few manufacturers on board then all the other manufacturers will want to get onboard since they will also want their drugs to be verified.
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