An iPhone application and online service which can monitor children’s vaccination history has been launched this week. The child immunisation tracker was launched to coincide with the World Health Organisation’s European immunisation week.
The service has been developed by Irishealth.com in association with Aptamil, and is the first of its kind in Ireland. It allows parents to keep track of their children’s vaccination history while also sending reminders when further vaccinations are due.
In addition, a live feed to relevant child health news and alerts on disease outbreaks are sent to parents when relevant. The tool is available online via the Irishhealth.com website or can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store. For parents who do not have an iPhone, a free web-based text and email reminder service is being made available as part of the initiative.
Parents enter basic information such as name, date of birth, blood group, and GP details and the tracker then provides a personalised vaccination schedule listing all of the current childhood vaccinations, when they are due and what they are for, as well as useful background information about the benefits of each immunisation and why they are important.
Commenting on the launch of the new tracker, Minister for Health Dr James Reilly said: “Anything that helps to ensure compliance with the vaccination schedule in the State is to be welcomed. This tool will help to simplify the process for parents and will be particularly useful when it comes to reminders. It is critical that we as a nation maintain a high level of immunisation among the population and also play our part in ensuring compliance across the European region. I congratulate Irishhealth.com and Aptamil on bringing this useful tool to the public.”
Aileen Regan, medical director for Milupa Aptamil, the company involved in the manufacturing of the device, said: “We understand that parents face challenges when trying to remember and track the vaccination schedule. We felt that this simple tool would help parents and give them one less thing to worry about. We were delighted to support Irishhealth.com by helping to bring this iPhone app and online service to fruition.”
Leading medical professionals have also extended a warm welcome to the child immunisation tracker. Linda Latham is an advanced nurse practitioner at Liberties Primary Care Centre and believes practice nurses are at the forefront of the national childhood immunisation programme and welcome any means whereby vaccine uptake rates can be improved: “The benefits and convenience of using an iphone application means that parents have the potential to take control and organise their child’s primary vaccination schedule. This system serves to complement the role of the practice nurse and can enhance the service provided in general practice for new parents
