Understanding the cultural diversity, the first step to universal immunisation.
If every child should have the same opportunity to live, grow and dream, why the universal immunisation for some is accessible and affordable; whereas, for others, it is not available. Why for some societies, the adoption of some strategies is more natural than others if we live in a globalised and interconnected world?. Then, what makes some countries special, among others?. Sometimes it is just easy to say that certain countries have not implemented certain measures, but maybe it is more complicated than that. If for just a moment, we understand that cultural diversity is the best opportunity to connect societies in a globalised world, the perspective can be different.
When reviewing different information systems, there is no place to talk about diversity because the gold standards to measure information systems are data accuracy, consistency and completeness. However, the real world is more than <DataType>. The information systems should be used by real people with real problems. Understanding the local information systems in every country is to recognise the cultural diversity among them. Low-income countries have similar needs, but every country solves them differently.
At Shifo, we understand that every solution has its context, and we believe that to make effective changes; first, we must understand the existing system in depth.
Including cultural diversity on an immunisation strategy is more than a translation of terms. The cultural diversity is the organisation of the society following invisible and pre-stable rules of language, religion, politics, beliefs, among others that represent the different ways to see the world.
At Shifo, we use Smart Paper Technology that connects people working in low-resource areas with global health data, despite geography, electricity, language or religion. Our system supports any language, and we translate data for action based on the context, to help real people with real problems.
It is crucial to understand the cultural complexity of every country and its strategies to achieve their goals. Shifo strengthens the local systems and helps the societies to succeed in their context, like in Gambia where we measure the availability of cellphone and send SMS reminders directly to parents or in Afghanistan where we include the Mosque in the system of reminding parents and communities to bring their children for immunisation sessions.
Everyday Shifo works to understand and support low-income countries to achieve their goals, and we believe that understanding cultural diversity is the first step towards universal immunisation.
Autor: Stefany Guarnizo. Editor: Rustam Nabiev
