Enhancing Health Care Access With Cellular Technology
Enhancing Health Care Access With Cellular Technology
Despite the impressive economic progress in developing countries, significant proportion of
 young children and pregnant women living in low-resource settings remain inadequately
 immunized. Progressive decline in immunizations are in large part attributable to poor
 follow-up and compliance. National and international pediatric bodies, recommend a time
 sensitive schedule for childhood immunizations, boosting immunity with each subsequent cycle,
 leading to adequate levels of immune protection. Due to inadequate protective immunity,
 resulting from poor vaccination compliance, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are
 rampant, making childhood mortality in this group among the highest in the world. Major
 challenges of vaccination programs include maintaining / tracking records, linked to positive
 identification of individual children, and strategies to improve follow-up and compliance.
 Novel cellular technology based approaches targeting behavior modifications can therefore
 significantly impact health outcomes in these communities. In this proposal, the
 investigators will evaluate a novel software platform, utilizing biometric identification of
 subjects, paired with cell-phone reminders and compliance-linked incentives to improve uptake
 and coverage of primary vaccinations in young children and pregnant women.
A web-based, biometric-linked vaccination record, cell-phone reminder and compliance-linked
 incentive software platform to provide robust and universal access of vaccinations. The
 investigators will implement this platform in a low-resource settings with the following
 features: a) Web-based for robust and universal access. b) Biometric-linked for positive
 identification. c) Digital storage and reporting for transparent view of program operations.
 d) Global Positioning System (GPS)-linked, allowing rapid assessment of vaccination status of
 communities. e) Increasing vaccination uptake and coverage by automated text message
 reminders and compliance-linked incentives.
Inclusion Criteria:

 Mother-child (or caregiver-child) units with child <2 years of age OR Pregnant women

 Exclusion Criteria:

 Family does not have cell-phone OR cannot provide informed consent