Dear viewers, A merry Christmas and a Happy new year 2019! On Christmas Eve of 2012, we shared the first write up on Immunogram as “Xmas gift”. Today, 6 years later, we wish to share it again because it can potentially achieve and sustain ≥90% Full Immunization Coverage (FIC) below one year and booster between 16 & 24 months as a package - see the attached one pager. Hope governments and other stakeholders will take up the success story for replication in a wider area.

New materials are available on the "Coverage Surveys" page of TechNet-21 (https://www.technet-21.org/en/topics/vaccination-coverage-surveys) on the "17 Steps to do a Coverage Survey". This collection contains a series of documents & presentations outlining the basic steps of a vaccination coverage survey, as well as some presentations on commonly asked questions and variations on a coverage survey. This also contains links to resou...

A textbook from lectures we used to give at the “Ciro de Quadros Vaccinology Course for Latin America” just got published by the Sabin Institute: https://www.sabin.org/programs/training-education/vaccinology-book. The book is available in English and Spanish. My chapter on information systems for EPI (part of section 3) is attached....

New article on "Global Routine Vaccination Coverage - 2017" was recently published in the CDC MMWR. Article can be accessed here: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6745a2.htm?s_cid=mm6745a2_e...

Dear viewers, As announced earlier in August 2018, the author with the help of his team could realize his dream and celebrated “EuVac Baby Award Ceremony” today in KVG Medical College Hospital. Dr KV Chidananda, Medical Director, iterated that parents have very crucial role in getting their children vaccinated timely and completely. Many parents are vaccinating their children more close to the schedule than in the previous decades. This is a welcome step, depicting more awaren...

Dear esteemed viewers, ANM Mrs Chandrakala KM, AWW Mrs Indiravathi and ASHA Mrs Saraswathi K are the 3 ‘A’ces working in Health Sub-Centre Baddadka of planning unit Aranathodu of Sullia Block of Dakshinakannada District, Karnataka State, India. The entire planning unit – PHC Aranthodu will cross >90% coverage including booster dose by 2018 itself. The attached one page write-up describes a very rare event, though not uncommon in RI programmes hence thought of sharing with the ...

Dear esteemed viewers On the eve of Karnataka State Raising day (Kannada Rajyotsva), KVG team wishes to share the attached for caring the children of Karnataka and beyond. India is committed: - baby Rukhsar was the last case of Poliomyelitis due to wild polio virus in Jan 2011, - it got the certification of Polio Eradication in March 2014 for which entire world congratulated the country. Karnataka is even more committed, and had the last case of polio due to wi...

Dear viewers, Greetings from KVG team. India launched Mission Indradhanush on 25th Dec 2014 to achieve >90% full immunization coverage (FIC) by 2020; it was intensified in October 2017 and the timeline was advanced to 2018 by the Honorable Prime Minister of India -- a silver line in the RI programme. We had an internal departmental discussion on the duelist of 12 HSCs of recently attached Primary Health Centre (PHC) who have completed 2 rounds of Intensified Mission In...

The WHO Immunization Monitoring Academy is a learning and capacity-building initiative. The Academy is open to all immunization professionals with an interest in the use, collection, and improvement of immunization data. Starting in Fall 2018, the Academy will offer a WHO Scholar certificate programme to support competency development in national and sub-national staff. The Academy will offer:  Level 1 certificate course in developing a Data Improvement Plan (DIP) in both Engli...

Innovative solutions are not limited to products, drugs, or diagnostics. They include novel approaches and applications of a technology, service, or intervention to help countries advance their reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and development targets. As the immunization and child health technical lead for USAID’s flagship Maternal and Child Survival Project (MCSP), JSI supports the expansion of the evidence base for...

The WHO website was updated with the most up to data WHO/UNICEF JRF data. The main launching page for this data is accessible from: http://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/data/en/ . From there you will be able to access: Country Profiles: http://apps.who.int/immunization_monitoring/globalsummary that include some...

Dear colleagues,  The results of external evaluations assessing MyChild Solution based on Smart Paper Technology in Afghanistan are now available. These evaluations assessed the data quality, operational costs, efficiency gains as well as transfer of work processes to the existing health system in Afghanistan. In 2015, the Shifo Foundation, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA), IKEA Foundation, and the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in Afghanistan started a joint coll...

During the GIM conducted in Rwanda in June 2018, a breakout session entitled “Innovations & Transitions for Immunization Data” was moderated by Jan Grevendonk, WHO HQ, and Hope Johnson, The Gavi Alliance.  Participants discussed the transitions that are taking place with immunization data, such as the move from parallel to integrated systems, aggregate data to individual record keeping, infant to life course vaccination, systems and tools moving from paper to cloud, and the need to mo...

You will find in the TechNet-21 Resource Library the recently released WHO report "Explorations of Inequality: Childhood Immunization"  and its accompanying interactive data visuals: https://www.technet-21.org/en/library/main/4912-explorations-of-inequality-childhood-immunization The report describes how children’s likelihood of being vaccinated is affected by socio...

WHO would like to announce that the new WHO Vaccination Coverage Cluster Surveys Reference Manual is available on the Technet website on the Coverage Surveys page. This document can be downloaded from here: https://www.technet-21.org/en/topics/vaccination-coverage-surveys under the section on "Current WHO reference manuals"      ...

Empower is organizing the third International Workshop and Study Tour on Ensuring Universal Health Coverage by Promoting Access to Life-Saving Medicines in Geneva, Switzerland scheduled from 20th to 24th August 2018. It’s a 5-day workshop and our participants will be public health professionals, program officers, supply chain professionals from various Ministries of Health, UN agencies, donor agencies, private and civil society organizations. The Key Topics to be covered during...

PAHO is pleased to introduce a new resource publication that contains a set of modules aimed at improving the monitoring of coverage of integrated public health interventions.  To improve the well-being of the population and bridge gaps in health service delivery, it is necessary to guarantee access to various health interventions, including proven strategies such as vaccination and deworming. Meeting program coverage goals, however, depends on identifying and reaching target populati...

"There is no arguing that aggregate data is useful, but as with most things, it has its limitations."   Read the full article (5 minutes) here: https://medium.com/shifo-news/going-beyond-the-aggregated-why-we-have-better-knowledge-on-immunisation-dropouts-with-individual-efc8e11cf879     ...

Dear Colleagues and partners I hope you’re well and that 2018 has got off to a great start!    I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to request your help is spreading the word about INFUSE within your networks. Innovation for Uptake, Scale and Equity in Immunisation, or INFUSE for short, is an acceleration platform to identify proven solutions which, when scaled up, have the greatest potential to modernise global health and immunisation delivery. Each year, INFUSE call...

WHO/HQ/EPI is interested in strengthening immunization outreach efforts by creating some related job aids for health workers.  To this end, we would appreciate your perspective on some of the barriers undermining this critical part of vaccination activities.  We request you to complete a small 5 to 10 minutes survey.    Should you know of additional experts with first-hand knowledge and experience around this issue, please forward this survey to them.  The survey will be open...

 Dear all, India is more committed, last case of WPV1 was in Jan 2011, along with other 10 countries got the certificate of eradication in March 2014. But as long as there is wild virus circulating in any part of the world, threat exists and may revert back to pre-eradication era as opined by the experts in polio. Hence India is conducting 2 rounds of Pulse Polio [NID] on 28 Jan 2018 and 11 March 2018. In Karnataka, the strategy is to administer 2 drops of Oral Polio V...

Most of the countries now have improved immunization coverages and reach more children with vaccination, but we still need to monitor the potency of vaccines that are given on top of the high coverages we have achieved in many countries. One of the biggest challenges when we talk about vaccine potency is the storage condition and to be more specific “the storage temperature”. Most of the vaccines are either heat or freeze sensitive and we need to monitor the storage temperatures more...

Dear all Please find the attached example, illustrating the grievous impact of using vaccination cards that are not compatible with the current National Immunization Schedule (NIS). As per the study conducted recently, >10% beneficiaries avail vaccination services from the private sector ranging from clinics to Medical Colleges even in the rural area. Field supervisors / monitors have easy access to such vaccination cards both at the facility level and in the field. Negative i...

Dear viewers  For some long standing problems, solution can be very siimple - we have to just do it. For saving the children from the lethal Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs), they are to be vaccinated timely, with all the vaccines included in the National Immunization Schedule (NIS) and also optional vaccines applicable to the country. In India, for attaining Full Immunization (FIC), a child has to receive one dose of BCG, 3 doses of DPT (now included in Pentavalent...

CDC published Progress in Childhood Vaccination Data in Immunization Information Systems—United States, 2013–2016 (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/pdfs/mm6643a4-H.pdf) in the November 3 issue of MMWR (pages 1178–81). A summary made available to the press is reprinted below.

IISs [Immunization Information Systems] are computerized...

As part of the WHO African region efforts to improve immunization and surveillance performances in terms of quality, effectiveness, efficiency, coverage and equity and in order to strengthen the capacity of policy makers and health providers in countries, there is a need for accurate data in order to gauge the effectiveness of existing policies and programs in health care system to make it more accessible and reliable. Guided by the WHO regional office, the IVD cluster of the Inter-co...

Dear all  We wish to share the activity held in our college (KVG Medical College & Hospiatal) on 24 October 2017 with the readers.  On 24th October 2017, Rotary - Sullia branch in collaboration with KVG Medical College Hospital & IMA Sullia observed “World Polio Day”. Dr K.V. Chidananda, Medical Director, being a Surgeon is a strong supporter of all National Health Programmes, especially Immunization, Polio Eradication, MR campaigns. Rtn. Dr Sudhakar Bhat, a se...

Following the July 2017 release of the WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage and the corresponding chorus of concerns about sustained (i.e., a more positive alternative to the term “stagnated” that is frequently used) levels of vaccination coverage since around 2010 that seems to follow, I thought it useful to remind readers that the number of children vaccinated is increasing! Unfortunately, the number of children vaccinated from one year to the next during the recent pe...

Dear viewers We have already shared about our preparation for succesfully operating Intensified Mission Indradhanush in an Urban area. Data of two session sites of one sub-centre is analyzed and we wish to share as a feedback / interim report. India is known for unity in diversity. Potentially ~9 million session sites including good performing area are also need to maintain a very high coverage to prevent the sporadic outbreaks. SF Kammar - Junior HA (F) and her colleagues com...

PAHO highlights four immunization data related activities - please see the Global Immunization News (GIN) - September 2017 (http://www.who.int/immunization/GIN_September_2017.pdf?ua=1) for full articles: Training on monitoring vaccination coverage and preventive chemotherapy to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (GIN, Page 14) Workshop on Immunization Data Quality in Nicaragua (GIN, Page 15) Countrie...