As part of a major initiative which would prevent damage to the temperature- sensitive vaccines and help in monitoring of their stocks, all cold chains of the State would now get connected to Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (e VIN). Uttarakhand is among five other States of the country where the second phase of the novel United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-supported project has been taken up. In the first phase e VIN technology was adopted in 12 States of the country.
The eVIN is a technology system developed under 'Made In India' initiative which digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a Smartphone app. The project aims to support the universal immunisation programme of the Government of India by providing real time information about the availability, stock and flow of the vaccine.
Elaborating further about the project, the Vaccine logistic and Cold Chain Manager of Dehradun, Rajendra Singh said the vaccines are kept in the Ice line Refrigerator (IlR) system the temperature of which is kept between + 2 Celsius to + 6 Celsius. “An IlR system linked with eVIN gives alarm whenever the temperature variation occurs thereby giving the time to handlers to take preemptive measures. The eVIN app is downloaded on the Smartphone of all the handlers. The stock availability and movement of vaccines would also be monitored by the application,’’ he informed.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Dy CMO) of Dehradun, Dr U S Chauhan said that there are at present 38 cold chain handlers in Dehradun district. He said two persons from each cold chain would be given a two day training starting from June 28. Dr Chauhan said that about 32000 children below two years of age are vaccinated in the district every year. He said that the eVIN technology would be a boon for the health department.
Experts opine that eVIN would revolutionise the vaccine delivery, procurement and planning for new antigens in India. It also provides an integrated solution to address widespread inequities in vaccine coverage by supporting state government in overcoming constraints of infrastructure, monitoring and management information systems and human resources, often resulting in overstocking and stock-outs of vaccines in storage centres.