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Top1. Introduction
Blockchain technology has been seen as a modern tool to instill trust in trustless systems. It is a transaction management valuable system for various applications that require transactions to be done from untrusted parties over a network. The transactions are recorded in a ledger distributed electronically among all the participating nodes of a peer-to-peer network. These transactions are generally stored as hashes and are generated using state-of-the-art cryptographic hash algorithms. The ledger is stored in a block that is almost impossible to mold and can be updated only through a consensus protocol agreed by all connected nodes in the blockchain network. Bali et al. (2021) have suggested a solution for combating drug counterfeiting by tracing the ownership transfer using blockchain technology. The first practical solution provided by blockchain technology is the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. According to Hileman and Rauchs (2017), the current popularity of blockchain can be attributed to a 600% growth of value since it was deployed in 2009. Researchers in the past have done a lot of work in the area of healthcare using emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT, blockchain machine learning, and big data(Sharma, Banerjee, Mathur, & Bali, 2020; Yadav, Banerjee, & Bali, 2020; Nagar, Aggarwal, Saxena, & Bali 2020).
This article has been divided into six sections. The first section is the introduction, which presents the basic idea about the smart contract, consensus algorithm, and key benefits provided by a blockchain. In Section 2, blockchain applications in different finance, healthcare, and supply chains have been discussed. Section 3 describes the use of blockchain in healthcare with the help of many examples. Many ongoing and development projects are presented in which the role of blockchain in drug anti-counterfeiting has been discussed. Section 4 addresses the challenges in the pharmaceutical supply chain and how blockchain technology can provide solutions to these challenges. In Section 5, a blockchain-enabled supply chain framework, named PharmaChain, and traceability systems algorithms are presented. This section also discusses significant issues and concerns that need to be addressed before adopting blockchain-based solutions in real life. Finally, the concluding remarks and limitations are mentioned in Section 6.
Blockchain is a public and private ledger that comprises various transactional data. This ledger is implemented as a series of cryptographically connected blocks stored and maintained by every node of the blockchain network, which is of the peer-to-peer kind. The integration of distributed consensus algorithms and asymmetric cryptography works as constituents for achieving data integrity, transactional consistency, non-repudiation, and authentication. It further enhances visibility and audibility. Transactions registered in the blockchain and stored in the ledger cannot be tampered with once they are validated by the authorized peers of the blockchain network. Furthermore, robustness and reliability are the main features that can establish blockchain as a highly trusted platform executed on a network of peers that do not trust each other.
A contract is a way to define transaction rules and relationships between any two parties. A smart contract is a computer protocol hard-coded to enforce the policies or terms of agreements. Automated and credible transactions can be performed without the intervention of a trusted third party by using computer codes. Business logic can be implemented via smart contracts to enforce trust in the application layer. The consensus algorithm defines the performance of blockchain systems. Bambara et al. (2018) suggested that the underlying consensus algorithms maintain the safety and efficiency of blockchain systems. These algorithms should be resilient toward node failures and also able to deal with malicious nodes efficiently.