Algorand and SEWA to launch blockchain-based digital health passport

AlgoBharat, Algorand Foundation's India initiative, is developing a digital health passport in partnership with Lok Swasthya SEWA.

The organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlining details of a blockchain-based solution that will provide users with a secure and immutable record of their verified credentials. This aims to help women efficiently access critical health benefits and social safety net programmes.

According to a press release, the new solution will allow SEWA's growing network of community centres, SEWA Shakti Kendras (SSK), to scale and target their services based on each household’s unique needs.

The role of each SSK is to provide important information on health and related services, collect and validate documents manually to access entitlements, and then transfer and consolidate the individual-level data in spreadsheets on the nearly 34,000 households (and 200,000 individuals) it currently covers.

The digital health passport aims to reduce manual errors while securely maintaining each woman’s information and is also compliant with India’s new Personal Identifiable Information regulations.

Blockchain's security features will further ensure that SEWA members can retain control over their own identities, protecting their data from unauthorised access and tampering, it noted in the release. 

With the digital health passport, Lok Swasthya SEWA will also gain a macro view of the demographic details of the growing population it serves, allowing it to more effectively target its services to informal women workers and their families.

Awareness of and access to various health programmes still remain a challenge for millions in India’s large informal labour force, especially women. The digital health passport will allow SEWA Shakti Kendras to enrol SEWA members into critical health and social protection programmes that help them stay healthy, work and earn.

Mirai Chatterjee, Director of SEWA Social Security, said, “This collaboration will aid the work of the SEWA Shakti Kendras by encouraging thousands of women workers to more actively participate in their healthcare journey. By offering them secure access to their documents and thereby to the healthcare that they are eligible for, we are hopeful for improved health outcomes and ultimately a sense of ownership and confidence that will help them achieve economic empowerment and self-reliance."

Anil Kakani, VP and India Country Head at Algorand Foundation, added, “This collaboration highlights the power of blockchain in creating a more inclusive economy and helps deliver on the vision laid out over half a century ago by SEWA’s founder, Ela ben Bhatt.­­­­­­­”