mHealth Mobile Messaging Toolkit
Oct 22, 2014
Posted in Products
With the BID Initiative, we understand the critical role that mobile technology can play in furthering positive health outcomes. Currently in Tanzania, we are practicing using SMS messages to register new births into the electronic immunization registry from a health facility or community leader. However, deciding where to start when considering SMS messages for a health campaign can be overwhelming.
Read MoreElectronic Immunization Registry Discussion Recap
Oct 17, 2014
Posted in BID Learning Network (BLN), Policies & Practices, Products
The Better Immunization Data (BID) Initiative created a Google Group to allow BID Learning Network (BLN) participants and those interested in the initiative to voice their ideas, perspectives and feedback as we identify shared problems and solutions. Recently, our Global Director Liz Peloso, kicked off a conversation about electronic immunization registries, citing an example of how Albania has successfully implemented this technology.
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The Importance of Data in the Ebola Outbreak
Oct 15, 2014
As health workers attempt to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, access to reliable data is becoming increasingly important. With the Better Immunization Data (BID) Initiative, we focus on solutions in immunization that can be applied to other health interventions, enabling healthcare workers to properly collect data and creating a data-use culture at the local level. Using data to inform decisions and identify trends can be a powerful tool in helping to prevent outbreaks from spreading and devastating healthcare systems as we have seen with Ebola.
Read MoreInnovating to Scale
Oct 7, 2014
Posted in Policies & Practices
A recent article by Joseph Wong, Stanley Zlotkin, Carmen Ho, and Nandita Perumal, “Replicating Parts, not the Whole, to Scale” published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review resonated with me as my colleague and I returned from a visit to Tanzania as part of the Better Immunization Data (BID) Initiative. Wong et al. clearly highlight, while we have succeeded in creating viable solutions to the developing world’s challenges, innovations have rarely achieved scale and transformative impact. Thus, the difficulty of translating efficacious innovations into effective innovations beyond a local setting remains elusive.
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Data power: preventing disease on the ground
Oct 2, 2014
Posted in General, Policies & Practices, Products
A recent article published on the Gavi-powered Vaccines Work blog discusses the power of data at the community level, citing Dr. John Snow’s cholera mapping analysis from the mid-19th century. Our Global Director, Liz Peloso, shares her firsthand experience at an Indonesian clinic where health workers defied the odds defied the odds and effectively used data to identify trends, potential issues, and successfully treat patients before illnesses spread.
Read MorePilot Testing the Tools Sets Tone for Improving Immunization Data Quality and Use
Sep 25, 2014
Posted in Monitoring & Evaluation
Two primary outcomes for the BID Initiative include improving immunization data quality and utilization in demonstration countries, the first being Tanzania. To do this effectively we must establish a starting benchmark to monitor changes over time and a baseline survey is the perfect way of doing so.
Read MoreQ&A with the BID Learning Network Director: Part 2
Sep 10, 2014
Posted in BID Learning Network (BLN), People
We recently sat down with Chilunga Puta to learn more about her new role as the BID Learning Network (BLN) director. In the second part of her Q&A, Chilunga shares more details about the BLN and why it’s important to BID’s overall success.
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Product Vision for the BID Initiative is published!
Aug 29, 2014
Posted in Products
With the inception of the BID Initiative, PATH has been working with partner countries to document a “top down” approach with a “bottom up” view. We begin with the national strategies, incorporating the current context of the users (e.g., the functional architecture) before considering the facility applications (e.g., the technical architecture) that are in use and have gained traction, and how they might tie together. Members of the BID Learning Network countries contributed to the materials contained in the BID Initiative’s product vision along with ministry representatives from the initial BID Initiative demonstration countries, Tanzania and Zambia.
Read MoreGAVI’s Data for Management Strategy
Aug 26, 2014
Posted in Policies & Practices, Products
This summer Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance launched a set of supply chain initiatives that complement and support the work being done as part of the BID Initiative. Early this month, UNICEF hosted meetings at its New York offices as part of the Data for Management (D4M) initiative designed to support countries in the development of dashboards for key supply chain indicators. I had the pleasure of participating in the meetings and look forward to testing the concepts with the teams in Tanzania and Zambia over the coming weeks and gather additional input from the BID Learning Network.
Read MoreQ&A with the BID Learning Network Director: Part 1
Aug 21, 2014
Posted in BID Learning Network (BLN), People
As the BID Initiative rapidly expands its team to gear up for country implementation, we welcome Chilunga Puta who will serve as director of the BLN, based in Zambia. We recently sat down with Chilunga to learn more about her role and what she looks forward to as she steps into this critical position. Stay tuned for part two of her Q&A series where Chilunga will share her thoughts and insight around the importance of peer learning and how the BLN is critical to success.
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