Ho Chi Minh City will unveil an electronic system for vaccination data early next year, which can send out reminders to parents so that their children will not miss important shots.
The system will store immunization history of children across the city, starting with those born in 2015 and 2016. The data inputting process is expected to be completed within weeks.
This will make it easier for parents to keep track of the vaccination schedule and to make sure kids are immunized at the recommended ages, officials said, adding the system will be synced with the national registry.
Vietnam’s immunization program requires all children to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria and polio. But keeping vaccination data up to date has remained a challenge for the public healthcare sector.
The Vietnamese government is pushing for the mass production of vaccines after health experts forecast a serious shortage by 2019, when Vietnam will no longer be eligible for support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines.
Over the past 25 years, vaccines have protected 6.7 million children in Vietnam and prevented 42,000 deaths from childhood diseases such as whooping cough and tuberculosis, according to the World Health Organization.
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