World is looking at India with great expectations.
However, the economy is slowing down and rupee is falling. However, this is not
what worries me most. What worries us more is the lack of basic healthcare and
having a large population of children who are suffering from diseases against
which immunizations are available. A healthy workforce is the basic backbone of
a health economy. Thought the rates of immunization are increasing and after
consistent efforts, it looks like polio has been eradicated from the country, a
lot still needs to be done. For e.g. One third of the world’s children who have
not received the three standard vaccinations – Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus
– live in India .
Measles alone causes anestimated 50,000-100,000 child deaths in India each year[1]. Poor
understanding of immunisation and fears about vaccine safety has contributed to
these high numbers. Though we might ignore this with a “Pfff…This problem is
more in rural areas”, let us point to the numbers. As per NFHS- 3 survey only
57.6% of Urban infants are fully vaccinated. It still needs to reach out to the
remaining 43%. Also, the challenge lies in the hectic Urban life. Though urbans
couples (Yuppies) are educated, have the financial resources and the awareness
about immunizations, they are really short on one thing – TIME. New fathers try
to do well in work (to get that much delayed promotion to cater to additional
responsibilities) as well as try to spend as much time as possible with their
bundle of joy. Mothers are struggling with lack of sleep and wondering how to
get back to work after much deserved maternity leave. Keeping track of
vaccinations becomes a challenge. Also, how many of them are aware of all the
immunizations available? Where do they get the information about immunizations
other than their own pediatricians? It is challenging. However smart phones can
do more than Facebook and simple phones can do more things than just make
calls. A parent can list of vaccinations available and timelines of those
vaccinations based on DoB of the child. What if you got a sms on your mobile or
an email reminding you of the date of immunization? Will that not be one thing
less to worry about?
AllizHealth has launched “Child Immunization Tracker” to remind (sms/email) parents of their child’s upcoming vaccines. Parents can also use it to keep track of child’s immunization history.
To subscribe, please follow the link: http://schools.allizhealth.
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