MP govt to launch mobile app on Dec 4 to track vaccine system

The MP health department will launch a mobile application that will enable healthcare workers to effectively manage vaccine logistics and have real-time information on availability of vaccines, an official said on Wednesday.

The MP health department will launch a mobile application that will enable healthcare workers to effectively manage vaccine logistics and have real-time information on availability of vaccines, an official said on Wednesday.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan releases a poster during the launch of IPV vaccine in Bhopal. (File photo)

The android-based app known as eVIN—electronic vaccination intelligence network—an electronic vaccine tracking system, has been developed as part of a UNDP partnership with the Union ministry of health and family welfare, aims to improve vaccine coverage in India, said Mausam Jaiswal, project manager of UNDP.

“The android-based app, which will be launched on December 4, will be installed in phones being provided to auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) and healthcare workers by the department. The application will be used to enter vaccine stock and logistics data on a real-time basis,” he said.

“It will help the monitoring teams to maintain the recommended temperature in the refrigerator in which vaccines have to be stocked. The data fed in the app will be recorded on a daily basis and will be circulated first at a division level then a state and national level.”

Cold chain handlers are at the frontline of India’s efforts of improving the vaccination coverage of the country’s infants. Currently, 65 percent of children are fully immunized in the country and India aims to immunize 27 million new children each year.

At the district level, vaccines are stored in dedicated cold storage facilities at primary health centres. Each cold chain handler packs the vaccines in vaccine carriers and transports them to different routine immunisation sites in villages and cities.

As and when required, the healthcare worker administers the vaccines to children. Vaccine tracking happens at two points, once in the morning, before the load is dispatched to the point of routine immunisation, and second on return. Until the eVIN system was introduced in India, the tracking process was undertaken manually. The system was first piloted successfully in Bareilly and Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, said Jaiswal.

“This enormous effort depends on ensuring a consistent supply of vaccines, stored at recommended temperatures, right from the manufacturer down to the mother and child.”

Since 2014, UNDP has partnered with Union ministry in support of government’s universal immunisation programme.

Hi-tech monitoring

Android-based app is known as eVIN or electronic vaccination intelligence network, which has been developed as part of a UNDP partnership with the Union ministry of health and family welfare

eVIN will monitor more than 1,200 focal points in the state, including 38 in Indore district

The app, which will be launched on December 4, will be installed in phones being provided to auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) and healthcare workers

The system was first piloted successfully in Bareilly and Shahjahanpur in UP