Using teleprimary care to monitor immunization status in Sarikei Health Clinic, Sarikei, Sarawak
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of using TelePrimary Care (TPC) to monitor immunization programmed in a clinic. Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccination was selected as an example because its coverage has not been satisfactory when compared to that of other vaccinatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2011
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3561/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3561/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3561/1/special%2520issue%25202011_34.pdf |
| Summary: | The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of using
TelePrimary Care (TPC) to monitor immunization programmed in a clinic.
Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccination was selected as an example because
its coverage has not been satisfactory when compared to that of other
vaccinations, which generally exceed 90%.
Data for all children who were eligible for JE vaccination (age range from 9
months to 30 months) who attended Sarikei Health Clinic between 1 January
2007 till 31 June 2008, was extracted from the TPC database and analyzed
for completeness and timeliness of JE vaccination.
The analysis showed that although 1,243 children were eligible to receive
their first dose of J vaccine at 9 months of age, only 560 (45%) received it. 15
(3%) received on time, and 545 (97%) received it late (age range from 10
months to 20 months). Out of the 560 who were scheduled to receive their
second dose of JE vaccine four weeks after the first, 382 (88%) received it on
time, and 55 (12%) received it late. Only 78 (18%) out of 429 children aged
between 18 months to 24 months received their booster dose; 52 (67%)
received it on time and 26 (33%) received it late.TPC not only enables health
staff to monitor immunization coverage and timeliness accurately, but it also
helps them to identify defaulters quickly so that these children can be traced
and immunized. Doing these tasks manually is time-consuming and tedious,
leading to delays in tracing defaulters.
TPC provides an effective system for staff to easily access real time child
health data to monitor and audit their immunization programme and take
remedial action where necessary. |
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