Increasing the demand for vaccination through mHealth in Quetta City, Balochistan in Pakistan

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by area, and the least developed. It suffers from several political, tribal and border conflicts. The distances to health facilities for the catchment population are long with limited accessibility. Immunization is one of the most cost-effective interventions to prevent deaths from vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs), especially in children. While Pakistan has an overall routine immunization coverage of 66 per cent for fully immunized children (FIC), coverage in the province of Balochistan is much lower at 29 per cent. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of introducing mHealth intervention using an artificial intelligence (AI) platform based on SMS (short-message service) and Interactive Voice Response (IVRs) to remind and persuade parents to get their children vaccinated.

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Khan EA, Panezai MI, Shahid B, Shahabuddin A, Akber S. Increasing the demand for vaccination through mHealth in Quetta City, Balochistan in Pakistan. Journal of Global Health Reports. 2021;5:e2021095. doi:10.29392/001c.28999