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Sep 22, 2020

Determinants of scale-up from a small pilot to a national electronic immunization registry in Vietnam: Qualitative evaluation

Journal of Medical Internet Research

Subjects: eHealth, eHealth Plan, People, Policies, Products
Countries: Viet Nam

Digital health innovations can improve health system performance, yet previous experience has shown that many innovations do not advance beyond the pilot stage to achieve scale. Vietnam’s National Immunization Information System (NIIS) began as a series of digital health pilots, first initiated in 2010, and was officially launched nationwide in 2017. The NIIS is one of the few examples of an electronic immunization registry (EIR) at national scale in low- and middle-income countries. This qualitative study explored the facilitators and barriers to national scale-up of the EIR in Vietnam. Qualitative data were collected in 2019 through in-depth key informant interviews and desk review. The results highlight the importance of the measured, iterative approach that was taken to gradually expand a series of small pilots to nationwide scale. The findings from this study can be used to inform other countries considering, introducing, or in the process of scaling an EIR or other digital health innovations.

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May 7, 2020

BLN Webinar: Electronic Immunization Registries and the COVID-19 Response

Subjects: Applications, eHealth, Hardware, People, Policies, Stock Management
Countries: Tanzania, Pakistan

The BID Learning Network invites you to watch a webinar on “Electronic Immunization Registries and the COVID-19 Response.” This presentation included speakers from the World Health Organization, the BID Initiative, and Interactive Research and Development. It was followed by an open discussion on how to leverage routine health system data to understand the impacts of COVID-19.

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Mar 30, 2020

BLN Webinar: The Design, Development and Deployment of an Electronic Immunization Registry in Vietnam | Reflections, Guidance and Global Comparison

Subjects: eHealth, Peer Learning, People, Policies, Products, Software, Tools
Countries: Viet Nam

The BID Learning Network invites you to watch a webinar panel discussion on “The Design, Development and Deployment of an Electronic Immunization Registry in Vietnam: Reflections, Guidance and Global Comparison.” The Introducing Digital Immunization information systems – Exchange And Learning from Vietnam (IDEAL-Vietnam) is a PATH project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which has been working closely with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health in facilitating a successful transition from paper records to a completely paperless immunization record system.

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Aug 8, 2019

Electronic immunization registries in Tanzania and Zambia: Shaping a minimum viable product for scaled solutions

Frontiers in Public Health

Subjects: eHealth, Immunization Registry, People, Policies, Products
Countries: Tanzania, Zambia

As part of the work the BID Initiative undertook starting in 2013 to improve countries’ collection, quality, and use of immunization data, PATH partnered with countries to identify the critical requirements for an electronic immunization registry (EIR). An EIR became the core intervention to address the data challenges that countries faced but also presented complexities during the development process to ensure that it met the core needs of the users. The work began with collecting common system requirements from 10 sub-Saharan African countries; these requirements represented the countries’ vision of an ideal system to track individual child vaccination schedules and elements of supply chain. Through iterative development processes in both Tanzania and Zambia, the common requirements were modified and adapted to better fit the country contexts and users’ needs, as well as to be developed with the technology available at the time. This process happened across four different software platforms. The BID Initiative recently published a paper to Frontiers in Public Health that outlines the process undertaken and analyzes similarities and differences across the iterations of the EIR in both countries, culminating in the development of a registry in Zambia that includes the most critical aspects required for initially deploying the registry and embodies what could be considered the minimum viable product for an EIR. Read the full article in Frontiers in Public Heath.

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Jul 30, 2019

From fragile to resilient health systems: A journey to self-reliance

Subjects: eHealth, People, Practices
Countries: Global

Preventable disease, emerging infectious disease, extreme weather-related disasters due to urbanization and environmental degradation, and complications of pregnancy and childbirth still claim far too many lives and challenge the ability of health systems to cope. Meanwhile, shrinking investments, flat country health budgets, population pressures, and complex emergencies challenge the global ability to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Some of the world’s experts were convened by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which funds MEASURE Evaluation, to take on the topic at its conference in Washington, DC, in March 2019 at a meeting, From Fragile to Resilient Health Systems: A Journey to Self-Reliance. The group addressed multiple factors affecting how health systems are able to respond to routine health challenges and emergencies. The full report is available here.

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May 6, 2019

BLN Webinar: The Data Use Partnership

Subjects: eHealth, eHealth architecture, People, Policies, Practices
Countries: Tanzania

The BID Learning Network invites you to view a webinar presentation on The Data Use Partnership. The use of reliable information from a well-designed health information system is critical for: decision-making during disease outbreaks; enhancing efficiency; fostering innovation; and ultimately ensuring improved health outcomes.  To this effect, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, with the support of PATH, has been implementing the Data Use Partnership (DUP) under the Ministry of Health’s transformative Digital Health Investment Road Map in health data systems and use. This is intended to close key gaps so that Tanzania can make informed decisions within public health to strengthen health outcomes.

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Nov 14, 2018

The BID Initiative Story

Subjects: Applications, eHealth, eHealth Plan, Packaging, Peer Learning, People, Policies, Practices, Products
Countries: Tanzania, Zambia

The BID Initiative Story highlights the value of collaborative, country-driven planning; local leadership and ownership; user-centered design; and continuous learning and adaptation when developing and deploying innovations. It also shows why we are optimistic about our progress and future efforts to improve health services and outcomes across sub-Saharan Africa by transforming data collection, quality, and use.

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Nov 14, 2018

Tanzania Immunization Registry Functional Requirements

Subjects: Applications, eHealth, Immunization Registry, mHealth, Packaging, People, Products, Software
Countries: Tanzania

The purpose of this document is to present a description of the Tanzania Immunization Registry (TImR), a system developed in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania and PATH through the BID Initiative to address many of the challenges the immunization program faces. This document explains the purpose and features of TImR, how it should interface with external systems, the constraints under which the system must operate, and the data that needs to be collected. The full document is available here.

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Nov 14, 2018

Zambia Electronic Immunization Registry User Manual

Subjects: Applications, DHIS2, eHealth, mHealth, Packaging, People, Products, Training
Countries: Zambia

The Zambia Electronic Immunization Registry (ZEIR), powered by the Open Smart Register Platform (OpenSRP), is an open source Android application geared towards frontline health workers with offline functionality and is interoperable with other open source global goods such as District Health Information Software (DHIS2). ZEIR is standard based and has been built to ensure timely, complete and accurate immunization data that enables the tracking of children and their vaccination records. This user manual provides instructions on how to use the ZEIR app during daily work at the health facility.

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