HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health and the Viettel Group launched a National Immunisation Information System (NIIS) at a ceremony on Friday in Hà Nội.

The system will be implemented nationwide from June this year to handle shortcomings in immunisation management, such as impact of population migration or when parents forget their child’s immunisation schedule.

Praising the support of international organisations for the Vietnamese health sector, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam highlighted the initiative of the health sector and Viettel Group in improving immunisation service and quality.

Đam said the Government of Việt Nam wanted to provide comprehensive healthcare to all children.

“All the children in the country will benefit from NIIS, which will be implemented at more than 17,000 immunisation stations and 12,000 health clinics nationwide from June 2017,” Đam said.

“Việt Nam has some 1.7 million newborns per year, many of whom missed their vaccinations under the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), while the vaccination rate remains low at some communes and wards in the country,” Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long said at the event.

“The application of IT in immunisation information, management and statistics will be a significant step forward for the health sector in handling shortcomings in immunisation activities in Việt Nam,” Long said.

Developed based on the iCloud technology, NIIS can be easily used on computers, smartphones or tablets. The paperless management system computerises all the work of a health worker and combines with the database portal for people searching for electronic immunisation records, scheduler and calendar reminder.

The health worker will issue an ID for a newborn within 24 hours of birth, when the baby is given the first shot of Hepatitis B vaccine. IDs will be managed and stored for a person’s entire life.

The system has been experimentally implemented in five provinces and cities since 2016 and will be expanded to all 63 provinces and cities nationwide from the beginning of June.

According to the health ministry’s statistics, more than 600 million doses of vaccines were given free of charge to children and women in Việt Nam under the framework of the National EPI over the past 30 years. The programme has contributed to protecting and improving healthcare, particularly of children, in Việt Nam. — VNS