PanaBIOS is an application built by African technologists and AI thinkers in collaboration with the African Union and the Africa Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention to help manage travels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Countries in Africa like their counterparts around the world shut down their borders to reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, many countries including Ghana have since opened their borders but with strict restrictions such as requirements for negative coronavirus tests, self-isolation and in some cases mandatory quarantine at designated hotels.

Technology is being used to make travel easier. China, UK, USA, the E.U. and the International Air Transport Association have all developed applications like USA Passport Health, UK NHS App and the IATA CommonPass application to achieve this purpose. These applications show the vaccination status and recent COVID-19 test results of the traveller. They also provide details of approved testing and vaccination centres, making it easy for information gathered to be accessed by laboratories, travellers, and airlines.

The PanaBIOS application of which Ghana is a pioneer user was developed to reduce travel restrictions in Africa. It will replace expensive and burdensome physical restrictions on movements and gatherings with a smart, digital alternative.

Data from the App can be used to monitor the virus, ease port clearance, travel screening and manage health security on the continent. It will also digitally monitor social gatherings and venues, digitize contact tracing and travel health history.

Travellers leaving or arriving in Ghana are required to upload their travel details, test centres and result on the application to generate a 2D Travel Code that can be presented at the point of travel or printed out. The 2D code will be used to authenticate the test results of all travellers.

BENEFITS OF PANABIOS

The PanaBIOS application allows travellers to use test results from one country to satisfy port clearance requirements in another country.

It supports the emergence of standard protocols to verify the health status of international travellers across borders and thereby directly facilitates the reopening of regional borders.

Records gathered and kept by the application allow labs to support mass, on-demand free and fee-based, tracing and testing.

Travel is vital for the success of the African Union (AU) plan to implement the world’s largest free-trade zone, which is now due to start in 2021 following a delay caused by the pandemic. PanaBIOS will help AU achieve its open corridors initiative, save costs that will be incurred in the physical implementation of restriction movement and ultimately reduce the spread of the virus.

The application is a technological solution to a world-based problem and Africa’s way of contributing to curbing the spread of COVID-19 and opening up our economies.

If your company is interested in launching an application or other technical solutions, to safeguard lives, then please contact ePareto at [email protected]. We have experience in developing sophisticated e-health systems.