Uruguay's National Immunization Program Register

Vaccination is a key component of child health promotion across the globe. Tracking and monitoring

vaccination coverage and services delivered is critical to the success of vaccine programs and to the

health of children and communities. In the late 1980s, Uruguay released a new National Immunization

Plan (PNV), accompanied by a vaccine register. This vaccine register, called the National Immunization

Program Register (SNNI) was the first nominal register in Latin America. Since 1987, the SNNI has been a

mixed paper and electronic register system. It has produced very high data quality, and is touted as a

great success by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The SNNI has been moving toward a

fully electronic model (including electronic data entry) since 2005.

Lessons learned from this case include: 1) integrating the register in the vaccinators’ workflow supports

data quality, 2) well-developed infrastructure facilitates the success of the register system, 3)

transitioning away from the highly successful paper forms is a challenge, and 4) support for patient care

is limited by the current system.