TEZPUR, Nov 1 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched its Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) in Sonitpur along with a four-day training for cold chain handlers in two batches, which concluded on October 2.
The inauguration ceremony of the project was held on October 24 last at Hotel Heritage.
Inaugurating the project, Dr Juri Bhattacharya, Sonitpur district Joint Director of Health Services in her speech said that an efficient cold chain is the backbone of the whole immunisation process and quality maintenance of the cold chain process is a must for effective vaccination in a State like Assam where infant mortality is high.
She also said that the eVIN programme launched by the Government of India in collaboration with UNDP in all the States is going to be implemented in all the districts of Assam, and Sonitpur is the 7th district where eVIN was started with a four-day long training programme.
Attending the occasion as the chief guest, Kamalajit Talukdar, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Health), Sonitpur, said that launching of eVIN marks the implementation of the Prime Minister�s Digital India Vision in the health sector.
�This mobile application-based data recording and reporting technology is going to ensure efficient vaccine and logistics management at the district as well as at the State level,� he said.
WHO official Dr Himadri Pathak also addressed the participants and elaborated on the �Open Vial Policy� formulated by the World Health Organisation to reduce wastage of vaccines.
In the programme, Android mobile handsets containing the e-VIN app were distributed among the cold chain handlers. With the help of the mobile phone having the e-VIN, it will be convenient to keep the stock updated daily after each immunisation session, which will be collected at the district level via web portal.
