EDCTP visits BlockRabies project in Abidjan and San Pedro, Côte d’Ivoire

The BlockRabies project is at the forefront of harnessing digital solutions to revolutionize healthcare for both humans and animals on the continent.

The motivation behind BlockRabies is to combat the persistent threat of dog-transmitted human rabies, which claims thousands of lives annually due to a range of systemic challenges. One of the critical issues the project addresses is the inadequacy of post-exposure prophylaxis supply chains. This shortage, coupled with a lack of awareness among patients and healthcare personnel, as well as patient non-compliance, has contributed to the ongoing human rabies crisis. Additionally, there is a glaring lack of diagnostic capacity and communication between human and animal health services, further exacerbating the problem.

A key outcome of the project is the development of the BlockRabies application (BrApp). This is an innovative digital application secured by blockchain technology, and it represents a collaborative effort involving local authorities, communities, service providers, and academic experts. The BlockRabies application is the first One Health digital application with diverse functionalities that is secured by blockchain. To enable timely dog rabies diagnosis and reporting, it facilitates real-time inter-sectoral communication between public health and animal health authorities. It also functions as an electronic patient recording system and a tool for managing the vaccination supply chain, which ensures vaccine availability at various sites and tracking of patient compliance.

The project was visited by Ms. Michelle Nderu, EDCTP Project Officer, in Abidjan and San Pedro, Cote d’Ivoire. Meetings with the project team and Prof. Inza Kone, Director General of Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS), one of the organisations involved in the project, were productive. On 5 September in Abidjan-Cocody and 7 September in San Pedro, Côte d’Ivoire, the EDCTP-funded BlockRabies project undertook a validation test of the BlockRabies app (BrApp) as part of the site visit. Ms Michelle Nderu, was among the participants.

The validation test is highlighted in this article (also available in French). Ms Michelle Nderu and members of the BlockRabies project were interviewed in two podcasts (in German) to talk about the project: Tiere stecken Menschen an – und umgekehrt and Die Toilette von morgen. Additionally, the BlockRabies project was featured as a case study in EDCTP’s session at the SSUNGA78 on 14 September 2023.