In this article, you will learn what is the pink ribbon for. The ribbon is a symbol of awareness and support. It was originally used in the early mid-1900s in a United States military marching song. There are many kinds of ribbons and their respective meanings. Ribbons mean a lot to humanity and the world. To do research and help the corresponding field with their respective ribbon colors, the organizations do the funding with the name of the ribbon.
What is the Pink Ribbon for?
Pink ribbons are synonymous with breast cancer awareness, particularly in October. The National Breast Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen, National Breast Cancer Foundation, and other advocacy organizations hold walks, fundraisers, and events in October and throughout the year.
About 12 percent of women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. The rate of breast cancer has been declining, and survival rates continue to improve. Still, the disease remains the deadliest and most-diagnosed form of cancer among women.
Fight against the Breast Cancer
The world turns pink every October and major corporations turn their attention towards breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons adorn almost every item in almost every shop. Athletes take the field in pink cleats and pink uniforms. Pink our tinged commercials fill over our television mcreens . The pink ribbon has permeated throughout our society as a symbol of our collective fight against breast cancer.
We assume that a percentage of the money we spend on an item with the pink ribbon is going towards finding a cure. Many companies attach them to their products, making it easier for people to justify purchasing items they would otherwise pass over. During October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are helping to fund a cure for breast cancer simply by spending money. But there is no law that requires companies to donate the money made on pink ribbon adorned items.
Corruption of the Pink Ribbon
The adoption of the pink ribbon for commercial use and the almost innate opaqueness of charitable donations have created an inefficient, non-transparent path for philanthropic funding of breast cancer research.
The current system sees a lot of the public's funds get lost in the time it takes for it to travel from a personal bank account to a research institution. Sometimes, it doesn't ever make it anywhere close to a research team, while large portions of charitable donations often get lost in “administrative” costs. Corporations and charities have effectively bottlenecked public funds in order to increase their own revenue streams.
Removing these “middlemen problems” from the system could clear the pipes and generate a smoother, increased flow of public funds for breast cancer research.
Blockchain Curing the Corruption of the Pink Ribbon
Blockchain technology removes these middlemen and the bottlenecks, making it a perfect tool to help fund healthcare and scientific research.
A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of records called blocks secured from tampering and revision. Each block contains a timestamp and link to a previous block. It is this transparency that makes blockchains a useful tool for the funding of breast cancer research. There is a precedent for using blockchain technology to help fund healthcare/scientific research. HEAL Alliance has created the HEAL Bond on Blockchain which utilizes blockchain, social media, cloud, and mobile technologies to help fund HIV research. A similar public project could be applied for breast cancer research.
Crowdfunding campaigns (aka Kickstarter) tend to resonate with the general public. By using blockchain based dApps like WeiFund and Benefactory, research could effectively & truthfully be crowdsourced. The transparency of blockchain transactions means that all of the data distribution regarding the acquisition of and is open to the public. This in turn ensures that any money donated to the project ends up where it belongs, with the research teams and not in the pockets of corporate or charity employees. As an added benefit the transparency of these public donations could put pressure on corporations to utilize blockchain technology and publicly donate some of the money they bring in during Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Bottom Line
Blockchain technology, paired with proven crowdsourcing techniques or social impact bonds, present humanity with a new opportunity to create an efficient, transparent, and fair system that will hopefully allow us to rapidly speed up the search for a cure. So, if you are interested in what is the pink ribbon for and how blockchain can help cure corruption, this article supports blockchain curing the corruption of the pink ribbon.
