Abstract:
Abstract
Background
Despite the advantages of the electronic registry which has been explained in other areas
of health and other parts of the world, there has been no empirical research conducted
with the aim of assessing the impact of the electronic immunization registry practices
on the availability of immunization commodities.
Objectives
To assess the effect of electronic immunization registry practices on the availability of
immunization commodities.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was carried out to health facilities providing vaccination services
in Tanga City Council. A total of 27 health care workers in 27 health facilities were
interviewed for availability of vaccines and their experience in using electronic
immunization system in supply chain system functioning using structured
questionnaires. The data from the vaccines manual ledger and electronic TImR system
were also collected administered in April-June, 2019 specifically for Bacillus-Calmette
Guerin (BCG), Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus-Hepatis B-Haemophilus influenza type b
(DPT-HepB-Hib), bi-oral polio vaccine (bOPV), Measles-Rubella and Human Papilloma
Virus Vaccine (HPV). These data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS using one
sample T test and 95% confidence interval.
Results
The study affirmed that the mean numbers of children registered at the health facilities
using electronic immunization registry was 1.5-3 times higher than the target
population for the three months preceding the study given by the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS). The number of doses for the studied vaccines (DPT-HepB-Hib, measles
rubella, HPV, BCG and bOPV) were found to be different in the manual and electronic
TImR systems. Also, the number of doses available at the health facilities increased
significantly with the number of the electronic system registered children.
Rwanda Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences Vol.4 No.2, August 2021 https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/rjmhs.v4i2.3
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Conclusion
This study found that the adoption of Electronic immunization registry has improved
the health supply chain in terms of improving the vaccines availability.
