Immunization services have improved drastically over the last 40 years however almost 20 per cent of
infants still remain either unvaccinated or under vaccinated.
According to the Kenya medical Research institute report, close to 5 million children under the age of 5 years died due to lack of vaccination or under vacation. This has been attributed to factors such as physical distance, demographic, socio-economic and health facility utilization
Among the diseases that children are vaccinated against include tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertusisi,
poliomyelitis, tetanus among others
In attempts to reduce deaths associated with vaccinations in children, the Kenya medical Research
institute has invented a digital system that will monitor the whole vaccination process of receiving 8
vaccines immediately from birth .
This system is still being worked on and is expected to start operating from March this year.
It will ensure that 100 per cent of children are fully vaccinated as it will capture details of the
child such as finger prints of the right and left thumbs together with those of the right and left index
fingers.
The mothers names and voice will also be captured in this process.To enable a parent follow
the vaccination process of the child, the system will send SMS to the mothers about their next
vaccination and also notify the health officers.
The system will also aim at improving the health records of all patients using web- based technology.
By Emma Simiyu
