The Communication Initiative Network

Where communication and media are central to social and economic development

GLOBAL| Approaches| Tools| Issues| Regions/Countries| MDGs| Polls / Discussions

E-magazines

Upcoming Events


Average Rating: no ratings submitted

Healthy Shot in the Arm

Author

Jennifer L. Boen

The News-Sentinel

August 12 2005

Summary

This article describes the US state of Indiana's online vaccination registry system, the
Children and Hoosiers Immunization Registry Program (CHIRP). This system, according to the article,
allows physicians, schools and health departments to track a child's vaccination records, even if the child
receives vaccines in multiple locations.



The author describes the difficulty that Fort Wayne Community Schools had during the 2003 vaccine shortages. This system, she
argues, has helped the school system to keep track of students who fell behind on their vaccines during that time.
The programme has, according to Boen, contributed to a rise in immunisation rate of children at age 3 from 51%
in 2004 to 75% in 2005.



Privacy issues are also addressed, and the article points out that doctors control who in their offices have access to the password needed to
view records. Schools also are given only read-only access.



Despite the advantages, the author notes that it has been difficult to get private doctors to participate.
According to the author, "fewer than 10 percent of family physicians and
pediatricians" are using this system in the Fort Wayne area.



Click here to visit the CHIRP
registry system described in this article.


Contact

Jennifer L. Boen
The News-Sentinel
600 W. Main St.
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
USA
Tel: (260) 461-8416 or 1-800-444-3303, ext. 8416
Fax: (260) 461-8817
jboen@news-sentinel.com
The News-Sentinel website

Source

The News-Sentinel, August 12 2005.


Placed on the Communication Initiative site August 17 2005
Last Updated August 17 2005

How useful did you find this page to your work?

1 - not useful    5 - very useful

Feel free to leave us comments

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Help Seed The CI Network

Login / Register

Subscribe to The Drum Beat, Contribute to Forums, Get Poll Results etc
New to CI? » Start here

Development Classifieds

Impact of Obama?

What will the impact of an Obama United States Presidency be for more effective action on poverty and other international development priorities? [Please explain your reasons in the comments field.]