Effects electronic immunization registry on vaccines availability in Tanzania: The Case of Tanga City Council.

Abstract

Background The electronic immunization registry in Tanzania was established in some part of Tanzania especially the northern zone since 2015. 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 research which has been done to assess the impact of the electronic immunization registry on the availability of immunization commodities especially vaccines. Main Objective The main objective of this research was to assess the effects of using Tanzania Immunization Registry in improving vaccines availability in Tanga City Council health facilities. Methodology The research assessed the utilization and challenges of using Tanzania Immunization Registry (TImR) in improving vaccines availability in the selected facilities in Tanga City Council including checking the availability of vaccines at the facility after the introduction of the new electronic system and comparing electronic data of the inventory with mandatory manual one using questionnaire. Data was cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20 for windows. Results A total of 27 health facilities were assessed in which the use of electronic TImR at the health facilities were 100%. There was correlation between the vaccines available at the health facilities and NBS given target population. Also there was correlation between the doses available and electronic child registration. The mean number of children registered by TImR at the health facilities were 1.3-3 times higher than the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) given target population. The electronic system for vaccines and immunization data management has some challenges such as internet connectivity and regular troubleshooting and maintenance which are not commonly done at the facility. It is advised to ensure there is integration of the TImR system used at the health facilities with the Vaccines Management Information System (VIMS) system used at higher levels be it council, regional and national level should be done immediately so that there will not be duplication of efforts in vaccines and immunization data management. Despite the new electronic system introduced more than two years the all

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facilities were still using manual tools in immunization data management such as immunization tally sheet, vaccines store ledger and health facility monthly report form. The manual tool which was not used anymore because of the electronic system introduction was Health Management Information System (HMIS) Book 7 which is a child registers. Conclusion Electronic immunization registration used in Tanzania registered many children than the target given by National Bureau of Statistics and this show that the new electronic system in the facilities can ensure vaccines are ordered as per the needs. Also the manual and electronic ledger had different information on vaccines stock status. This may be due to the challenges related to the system use or preference of using one system over the other.