Consumer Safety

In general, citizens of developing nations often are in the midst of a lower educational level. Thus, when securing national drug supply chains, educational levels should form a cornerstone in the design of security features and stepped up enforcement policies. In this respect, mPedigree with its collaborators has developed a mobile-based authentication system that rides on the popular "top up card" model that enables millions of Africans to patronize cellular services every day. Upon purchasing a drug, consumers text a code beneath a scratch panel and obtain an instant response certifying the drug's genuineness (or otherwise). This gives consumers the most recent drug pedigree information right at the point of purchase before the drugs are consumed. Such a "just-in-time" model enables manufacturers recall products with minimal risks, while providing the opportunity for large scale automated intelligence gathering for law-enforcement agencies to administer quick arrests based on the frequencies of fake drug SMS responses per locality.