eVIN Project of Health Ministry becomes global best practise in immunisation

Members of a five country international delegation called on Shri C K Mishra, Secretary Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, here today. They interacted with the Health Secretary to learn more about the global best practice of eVIN (electronic vaccine intelligence network) project of the Health Ministry and to understand how it is being implemented in the country and the ways in which it be replicated in their own countries. Representatives from Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand are on a visit to India to study the project. Mr. Jaco Cilliers, Country Director, UNDP and Dr Rakesh Kumar, Addl. Country Director, UNDP were also present during the meeting.

Shri Mishra said that the Ministry is ready to provide support and collaborate with other countries to strengthen their capacities and scale up their programs. He also stated that this is a big boost for the Digital India and Make in India initiatives of the Government. This sets a benchmark in the field of immunisation, he said. The delegation shared the experience from their countries of the immunisation projects, and expressed the shared view that the India visit shall enrich them to strengthen their own country programs.

Stating that India has a lot to share in terms of best practices and new learning, Mr. Jaco Cilliers, Country Director, UNDP stated that such visits provide an opportunity to other countries to learn from these best practices of India in the field of immunisation and strengthen their own programs.

Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Addl. Country Director, UNDP stated that while the country is working towards enhancing the coverage of immunisation, quality of vaccines through maintenance of the right temperature is also a critical component to for the quality and efficacy of the vaccines. eVIN is a step towards ensuring that, he stated.

eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) is an indigenously developed technology system in India that digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application. The innovative eVIN is presently being implemented called across twelve states in India. eVIN aims to support the Government of India’s Universal Immunization Programme by providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in these states. The technological innovation is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

eVIN aims to strengthen the evidence base for improved policy-making in vaccine delivery, procurement and planning for new antigens in India. eVIN provides an integrated solution to address widespread inequities in vaccine coverage by supporting state governments in overcoming constraints of infrastructure, monitoring and management information systems and human resources, often resulting in overstocking and stock-outs of vaccines in storage centres.

The integrated solution combines:

Technology: to facilitate evidence-based decision-making by making available online real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperature through the eVIN application software and temperature loggers;

Governance: to ensure efficient vaccine logistics management by systemizing record keeping through standardizing stock and distribution registers; identifying gaps and improving clarity on vaccine cold chain network; drawing attention to infrastructure upgrades; developing standard operating procedures; and encouraging good practices;

Human Resources: to empower the state cold chain network by building the capacities of government cold chain handlers; and deploying vaccine and cold chain managers in every district for constant support to estimate vaccine requirements, supervise cold chain handlers and coordinate with cold chain technicians across the district.

eVIN empowers the cold chain handlers by building technical capacities and providing a robust decision-making tool for cold chain managers through a complete overview of vaccine replenishment times, supply and consumption patterns.

By streamlining the vaccine flow network, eVIN is a powerful contribution to strengthening health systems and ensures equity through easy and timely availability of vaccines to all children.