Jacaranda Health reaching the last mile of under-immunized infants through tech-enabled immunization tracking
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Immunization is one of the greatest global health success stories, achieving significant gains in driving down rates of child mortality worldwide. Yet against this backdrop of success a major data challenge emerges; namely how to identify underimmunized infants when coverage is already high… Generating high-frequency, real-time data on where, when and how to reach the last mile of underimmunized children is a low-cost, scalable approach to closing the immunization gap, ensuring all infants receive their full dose of vaccines as a basic human right. PROMPTS, Jacaranda's digital health platform serving 800K+ mums and babies across Kenya, is also being used to improve immunization, and identify geographic hotspots of weak immunization across 15 counties. Building on its two-way messaging and data collection capabilities, PROMPTS sends mums information about immunization, reminders for when to take their babies for vaccination, and asks questions about adverse events (like a fever or headache) following immunization - a common factor to vaccine hesitancy. Mums will be asked; ‘Have you taken your baby for its week 6 vaccination?’. If she replies ‘no’, the next question is ‘why?’. This follow-up is critical. Responses from mums are relayed to our government partners, who are then equipped to address barriers like stock-outs or lack of transport to facilities, improving immunization coverage in a resource-efficient way. EfD are pleased to have supported Jacaranda's PROMPTS initiative and their government partnerships initiative. |