Vietnam’s scale-up from a district-level pilot to a national-scale electronic immunization registry
PATH
Apr 10, 2020
Vietnam’s immunization registry system prior to 2009 was a paper-based logbook that was prone to errors, time-consuming, and burdensome for health workers. Starting in 2009, the Vietnam National Expanded Program on Immunization (NEPI) and their partner PATH began visualizing the possibilities and benefits that a national-scale electronic immunization registry (EIR) and vaccine-stock-management system could bring to Vietnam. In 2017, the National Immunization Information System (NIIS)—a sustainably planned, government-run, nationwide EIR system—was officially launched along with national mandates on system use. Much of the success of the scale-up of the Vietnam EIR can be attributed to three key factors: (a) planning for scale from the beginning, (b) commitment from the government, and (c) technical partnerships. The story of scaling up, however, did not come without challenges and hurdles. This case study reviews Vietnam’s journey from district pilot to national-level EIR.