Simprints and EyeSeeTea are working together to track the new vaccination against malaria, in partnership with Ghana Health Service, with support from Gavi, Arm, and The Steele Foundation for Hope. Integrating our applications, we’re strengthening the data tracking systems to optimise the rollout of the malaria vaccine in two regions of Ghana using a state-of-the-art biometrics mobile solution.
Community member has their fingerprint scanned on Simprints’ Vero scanner so the Health Worker can find their digital health record
Healthcare is a universal human right which everyone should have access to. However, communities worldwide are missing out on the continuity of healthcare and life-saving services that are meant for them because they have no safe, reliable, mobile form of ID.
An estimated 850 million people globally lack formal identification (ID), which makes it incredibly hard to verify that critical services are reaching the people they are meant for. For governments, international development organizations, and local NGOs, this presents a very real challenge for practitioners – how can we verify that critical services and resources (such as vaccines, humanitarian aid parcels, and mosquito bed nets) are reaching target populations? This uncertainty is exactly what Simprints is tackling through its biometric solutions in seventeen low and middle-income countries across the globe.
A new kind of tech for good: Biometrics ID with privacy at its core that gives people a safe digital identity and ensures that every vaccine reaches those who need it the most
Tracking reliable health data is key to ensuring access to critical health services for all, and biometrics can play a vital role in assessing the success of campaigns such as immunisation series. Through Simprints technology, unique medical records are being created – eliminating duplicates and ensuring reliable data on the number of people immunised.
“Data is everything. The beauty of the biometric component is that it makes it easy for patient registration, identification and follow-up”
Dr John Ekow Otoo
Deputy Director, PH, Eastern Region, GHS
Child awaits health check at a rural, outdoor health clinic
Tech for Good
Health and biometric data is sensitive data and, as such, has to be stored using robust software. This is where EyeSeeTea comes in. We develop and maintain the customized Android Capture App enabling data capture (including biometrics capture and integration with the Simprints App used for patient identification, enrollment & verification) and ensure that all data is safely stored using DHIS2, the world’s largest open-source health management information system (HMIS). Currently, DHIS2 is in use in more than 100 countries. EyeSeeTea’s expertise with DHIS2 guarantees that Simprints’ cutting-edge technology is combined with a reliable data input and storage system.
During this development, there has been implemented a solution that can:
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- Enroll users attaching their biometrics
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- Identify users by their biometrics
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- Verify users by their biometrics
Once biometrics are complete the health worker returns to the DHIS2 app and is presented with a list of potential matches. From this list she or he can select the correct record and proceed with the follow-up visit.
Maximising vaccination coverage
The malaria vaccine requires four separate and accurately timed rounds to ensure full protection. With its mobile app, Simprints enables healthcare workers to track patients’ immunisation status, maximising vaccination coverage and reducing the number of children who drop out of the vaccination series before the vital final round.
The customised version of the DHIS2 etracker application developed by EyeSeeTea, with Simprints’ state-of-the-art biometrics solutions integrated into it, is helping track the vaccination campaign, strengthening the data tracking systems to optimise the verified delivery of the malaria vaccine in two regions of Ghana. This ground-breaking project is a first in Ghana – rolling out the first biometric technology designed for the last mile and frontline health workers with contact and contactless biometric modalities.
Simprints and EyeSeeTea continue to work together to improve the user experience and technology as we scale project impact in Ghana. Alongside project partners, we’re using the power of innovative technology to unlock access to critical health interventions in the fight against malaria.
