Redesigning the immunisation record in a rural context

Bootcamp • Product Design •

Indroduction

I got a chance to work with Massachusetts Institute of Technology mentors and participants on a problem at a workshop as a part of community-based health track at MIT India Initiative, a workshop held in Mumbai.

Problem Description

The current structure of recording immunisation data in rural vaccination camps is very inefficient as it is entered manually. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has designed a national Reproductive and Child Health Portal for storing immunization records.The available data is very incomplete and inconsistent as the health workers do not enter the data manually into the portal. In the case of a lost health card, administration of the vaccine becomes complicated.

Brainstorming

Solution

A smart card (Bal-sehad card) is given to the rural people which contains a unique health identification number (UHID). The electronic reader identifies the UHID and gives a decision of which vaccine to administer to the health worker. The data is stored locally in the electronic reader and can be integrated to the RCH from a Public Health Centre. Thus the solution eliminates the need for manual data entry right from the administration of vaccine. In case of card losses the parent can get her child’s card back and there is no loss of immunisation data.

Prototype