Text messages to promote immunisation in Kenya

NAIROBI: Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) are working on optimising the mobile phone platform to increase awareness and adherence to routine immunisation. The Kemri researchers, Dr B O Ochieng and colleagues from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, noted that vaccines are effective prevention strategies for reducing childhood illnesses and death with about 2.5 million lives saved annually globally from immunisation programmes. Despite their lifesaving potential, between 1995 and 2006, approximately 24 million infants in low-and middle-income countries did not receive all scheduled vaccines and if they were vaccinated, it was often done late. In a study titled, ‘The feasibility of mHealth interventions to improve immunisation timeliness and coverage: formative research findings and determinants of mobile phone ownership and SMS usage in rural western Kenyan mothers,’ the scientists observed that given the increased mobile phone ownership in the country, it would serve as an appropriate communication tool to pass immunisation messages to parents and guardians. The team cited unequal access to mobile phones and proper framing of the SMS reminders as initial challenges to the roll out.