Latest innovation from Shifo gives a boost to immunisation delivery in hard to reach areas.

Shifo Foundation announces the release of MyChild Card that takes the world one step closer to reaching every child in low-resource settings with life-saving vaccines and preventive healthcare that every child has a right to.

MyChild Card is an innovative child health card with a digital component based on Smart Paper Technology, that allows for child health data to be captured on paper by health workers. Each time a child goes to a health facility or outreach site to receive preventive health services, information is recorded in relevant visit vouchers, which are then scanned and uploaded onto a secure server for digitisation, creating an electronic health record for each child. All that is needed during immunisation sessions are the MyChild cards, vaccines and essential supplies.

Specifically designed to address issues related to high child mortality from preventable diseases, it supports child registration, proactive follow-up of children's vaccination, nutrition schedule, growth, development and other preventive child health services. It simplifies the process of registering and providing preventive healthcare to children in hard-to-reach areas in the "last mile" - families with children in the most remote areas, and reduces the time spent by health workers on paper work and administration.

By cutting the time spent on administration we ensure that health workers can focus on quality of care and serving more children in their target population. At the same time MyChild Card addresses knowledge gaps of parents, providing vital information on the importance of vaccination, proper nutrition, or signs to look for in the event of illness, so that families know how to take care of their children during the early stages of child development.

MyChild Card collects data on 63 crucial indicators relating to maternal and child health. This data is collated into reports that are distributed to key actors on a regular basis, so that they know the gaps within child health services and can design targeted interventions based on accurate data to close the gaps.

With the support of the IKEA Foundation, development of MyChild Card was led by the fact that while there is great advocacy for the use of information technology to address issues with health service delivery in low-resource settings, the reality is that in many areas, the infrastructure to support electronic technology is weak or does not exist. The solution was developed together with families with children, frontline health workers and decision makers to address gaps in child health and develop a solution which can be used taking into account the limitations of infrastructural availability in low resource settings. Development was based on research findings, Shifo's ground work in Uganda and situation analysis done in Afghanistan.

Because it does not rely on electricity or network coverage during health service delivery, MyChild Card can be implemented in rural settings, in areas without power supply, or in uncertain security environments. “One of the most exciting things about MyChild Card is that with it, we can truly aim to reach every child no matter where they live. It can be used in places where it can be difficult to reach children with health services, such as rural communities, informal settlements or even refugee camps. And it is in these places where the majority of vulnerable children are found”, says Rustam Nabiev, director of Shifo Foundation.