title: A prototype of a novel cell phone application for tracking the vaccination coverage of children in rural communities.
abstract: Immunization saves millions of lives against vaccine-preventable diseases. Yet, 24 million children born every year do not receive proper immunization during their first year. UNICEF and WHO have emphasized the need to strengthen the immunization surveillance and monitoring in developing countries to reduce childhood deaths. In this regard, we present a software application called Jeev to track the vaccination coverage of children in rural communities. Jeev synergistically combines the power of smartphones and the ubiquity of cellular infrastructure, QR codes, and national identification cards. We present the design of Jeev and highlight its unique features along with a detailed evaluation of its performance and power consumption using the National Immunization Survey datasets. We are in discussion with a non-profit organization in Haiti to pilot test Jeev in order to study its effectiveness and identify socio-cultural issues that may arise in a large-scale deployment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, USA. Electronic address: anaskatib@mail.umkc.edu.
authors.forename: Anas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katib
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA. Electronic address: drao@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: Deepthi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, USA. Electronic address: raopr@umkc.edu.
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, USA. Electronic address: williamsk@umkc.edu.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Maison de Naissance and Global Birthing Home Foundation, Leawood, USA. Electronic address: jim@globalbirthinghomefoundation.org.
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D040421:Cell Phone; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration; D000069098:Health Smart Cards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D032541:Mass Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D063731:Mobile Applications; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Cell phones; Children; QR codes; Rural communities; Vaccination coverage