Sindh Electronic Immunization Registry – Zindagi Mehfooz presentation and mobile handover

Karachi (23-06-22): Sindh Health Department collaborating with IRD, and other partners has been working on digitizing the immunization efforts taking place in Sindh. Sindh Electronic Immunization Registry – Zindagi Mehfooz (SEIR-ZM) is a program that has allowed for better data compilation and recording in the province.

Secretary Health, Mr. Zulfiqar Shah, Director EPI, Dr. Irshad Memon, COO PPHI, Mr. Javed Ahmed Abro, and others chaired the event where the presentation took place and mobile phones were handed out.

In order to continue improvement in this endeavor, they held a meeting to present the data to show how digitizing the immunization process has helped in significantly improving the rates of inoculated children, follow-up vaccinations, and covering otherwise missed regions and populations.

Updated Android phones were given to vaccinators from different districts. The phones had the SEIR app already installed and as mentioned by Secretary Health, Mr. Zulfiqar Shah, the vaccinators only have to log in and update their locations throughout their work day as well as how many children were immunized and which areas were covered.

Aligning with Immunization Agenda 2030 and making steady progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, efforts were made in overcoming the challenges of low immunization coverage and ensuring every last child is vaccinated.

In 2017, Sindh Electronic Immunization Registry – Zindagi Mehfooz (SEIR-ZM) application was integrated into the Government of Sindh’s Department of Health’s EPI Portfolio and scaled up to cover all 30 districts in the province.

In recent years, the application’s use has expanded to the district of Gilgit, KPK, and the Islamabad Capital Territory.

The Android application has now evolved into a ‘super app’ with newly added features to improve the process of immunizations.

To date, over 5.9 million children and 2.0 million women have been enrolled in SEIR-ZM, and the application is being used by over 3,300 vaccinators across the province, with the mission to leave no child behind.

SEIR-ZM has played a pivotal role in advancing health and immunization goals in Sindh, particularly in the Super High-Risk Union Councils of Karachi. Not only have we been able to track individual-level child’s immunization status but also have been able to monitor vaccinators’ performance and have seen significant improvements in vaccinators’ attendance and compliance.

Through the SEIR-ZM, the Health Department, Government of Sindh has access to real-time data which has led to a marked improvement in vaccinator attendance and compliance and improved the capacity of the EPI Department, Sindh for better monitoring, evaluation, and accountability, resulting in improved immunization coverage across the province.

Through the support of IRD, Health Department EPI Sindh is distributing phones to all the vaccinators across the province.  The smartphones enable smooth access to the SEIR-ZM application, through which we will be able to improve immunization-related indicators exponentially in the coming months