At the main bus terminus in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, travellers heading to neighbouring Zambia can be tempted by offers of counterfeit travel vaccination certificates. A thriving black market sells a fake proof of immunization for between US$ 15–20, says Dr Integrity Mchechesi, who works with a technology firm to combat such forgery.
Counterfeit travel vaccination certificates can put lives at risk and greatly jeopardize disease control. “We estimate that around 80% of yellow fever travel cards in Zimbabwe are counterfeit,” says Dr Mchechesi, a co-founder and head of innovation at Vaxiglobal, a travel health consultancy.
Vaxiglobal is working with laboratories in Zimbabwe and Zambia, airlines and technology companies to build up a safe and approved digital verification system for travellers’ immunization.
Built on blockchain technology, a decentralized online record-keeping system, the database cannot be tampered with.
It’s often impossible for busy border authorities to verify the names of doctors, and the supposed location where vaccinations occurred, by phone or email.
After vaccination, the laboratories create a digital record in our system. The traveller gets a QR code on a mobile app or on paper, which is instantly verified by the border authorities, who can see where they got the vaccine and who gave it to them, as well as the batch number of the vaccine, which protects the authenticity of each and every vaccine.
Dr Mchechesi – also a senior resident medical officer at the Parirenyatwa Central hospital
According to Dr Mchechesi, many vaccines are left unused in Zimbabwe, which leads manufacturers to push up the price of production. By reducing the number of shelved vaccines, the initiative aims, ultimately, to help bring the price of vaccines down.
The digital verification system went live in early 2020, and in April the team worked with laboratories across Zimbabwe to use the system for COVID-19 certification. More than 1500 certificates have since been verified, and seven airlines are now using the system at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare. As more of Zimbabwe’s ports reopen, the team aims to expand the system under the guidance of the Ministry of Health.
We recently received approval for the Government of Zimbabwe, and it’s a huge deal now as the borders opened between many African countries
All travellers need up-to-date immunization verification and our system should help cut transmission rates across borders.
The Vaxiglobal team is also in talks with South Africa’s government for a potential launch in that country and even an eventual roll-out across the 15-Members States of the Southern African Development Community.
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2 comments
It’s still not clear how Blockchain prevents counterfeit vaccinations. A lab tech can still capture a “vaccination” in the system that was never actually done. Their internal records need not reflect this.
And the new TZ look is bad, especially on a tablet.
There are certain drawbacks to using biometric identification. To begin, it needs costly, patient-specific specialist equipment. These must also be erected on the property of the individual receiving care, in addition to the other requirements. Inconvenient for patients, these technologies are. This also necessitates that the recipient have a landline phone at their home or workplace. Using the EVV’s built-in phone ( evv system https://www.protectimus.com/evv/index.php ), the caregiver may talk to their patient once the system is up and running.