Technology Use Improves Vaccination Coverage In Punjab

Technology use improves vaccination coverage in Punjab

The real time monitoring data established by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) reports that the use of technology has improved vaccine coverage from 36 % (2014) to 97 % (2017) in the province

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2017 ) :The real time monitoring data established by the Punjab Information Technology board (PITB) reports that the use of technology has improved vaccine coverage from 36 % (2014) to 97 % (2017) in the province.

"The untiring and dedicated efforts of field workers made the significant improvement possible in Pakistan's Expanded Programme on Immunization and turned around vaccination services through technology", said Dr Umar Saif, the founding Vice Chancellor of Information Technology University (ITU), Chairman PITB and Adviser to the CM Punjab while reviewing progress in a meeting here Monday.

During the meeting, the chairman PITB was informed that 3,483,105 children were administered 33,478,582 vaccines, including BCG, OPV, Measles, Pentavalent and Pneumococcal through 3,774 vaccinators in the province.

The PITB provided smartphones to vaccination teams with applications to digitize their fieldwork and monitor attendance and performance. The smartphones were used to enter real-time immunization records that were then sent to a centralized database.

Attendance of field workers in the Punjab rose from 36% in 2014 to 94% in 2017 and geographical coverage improved from 25% to 97 % in the same period as a result of this intervention. The PITB also replicated this programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan. In KPK, attendance of vaccination teams improved from 34% in August 2016 to 75% in May.