Despite the challenges, India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) is one of the major public health success stories, globally. With the government planning the launch of a digital vaccination registry, U-Win, on August 15, the UIP is poised to be placed on a much surer footing. The portal will steer the inoculation of 29 million pregnant women and 26 million infants annually against vaccine-preventable diseases. Under the current system, inoculation data is recorded manually by ASHA workers and then collated in state and national-level registries — this process usually takes more than a month. Immunisation at private healthcare facilities is often not recorded. U-Win will capture every vaccination event and ensure the availability of real-time vaccination data to healthcare policymakers. Such information flows could improve planning and lead to more responsive outbreak-averting interventions.
In 1978, India’s first national immunisation programme against multiple diseases — then called the Expanded Programme for Immunisation — comprised four vaccines. The UIP today targets 12 diseases. NFHS data show that close to 80 per cent children in the 12-23 months age bracket have received the recommended vaccines. In recent years, however, surveys have flagged concerns. Routine immunisation services were disrupted during the Covid pandemic. The vaccination drive picked up in 2022. But, WHO-UNICEF data for last year indicate a minor dip in the percentage of children inoculated against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. Studies have also underlined that a section of India’s migrant population gets left out of the UIP, or does not receive timely jabs. Another big challenge is to reduce the number of children who drop out from the vaccination programme. U-Win, which can be accessed from any geographical location, could be a game changer — it can improve vaccine coverage among disadvantaged groups, ultimately reducing infant mortality rates. Parents will get SMS alerts on the date for the next jab and they can book slots in advance anywhere in the country, without having to carry physical records. The authorities must, however, take care to ensure that India’s digital divide does not come in the way of beneficiaries keeping their date with the vaccinator.
During Covid, the COWIN platform played a key role in vaccine delivery. Another portal, the e-Vin, has been tracking vaccine-related cold chain logistics since 2015 — it has ensured an 80 per cent reduction in instances of vaccine stock-outs. Now U-Win is slated to become the world’s largest immunisation registry. The country’s impressive suite of digital delivery systems should pave the way for making the UIP more expansive. There is a compelling case for including the HPV vaccine, for example, in the programme.
