Mobile Phone SMS Messages and Automated Calls in Improving Vaccine Coverage Among Children in Pakistan

Summary

Routine childhood immunization (RCI) in Pakistan is well below the recommended coverage of 90% with rates as low as 16% in certain regions (Pakistan DHS 2012-3). This has led to continued polio transmission, large measles outbreaks and thousands of deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases (Kazi.Bull WHO 2016). Mobile phone communication is widespread in developing countries and has proven a potential method of directly connecting pregnant women and mothers to health services (Kharbanda. Expert Review of Vaccine 2014). The investigators propose conducting a mixed methods proof of concept cluster randomized trial (CRT) to assess the effectiveness of different types of SMS messaging and automated calls to improve RCI and understand the perceptions and barriers that may affect SMS and automated call-based interventions at participants levels. the investigators will conduct the study at urban and rural sites in Pakistan. The investigators will examine an important public health question - do low cost, automated SMS, and automated messages improve RCI coverage in resource-constrained settings? Further, investigators will compare the effectiveness of reminder, educational and interactive text messages for improving RCI and will generate socio-cultural data regarding the impact of participants health beliefs that will be important for setting up the appropriate interventions in other LMICs.

Conditions

• Tuberculosis
• Polio
• Diphtheria
• Pertussis
• Tetanus
• Haemophilus Influenzae Type b Infection
• Hepatitis B
• Pneumococcal Infection

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

SMS messages and automated calls

The intervention consists of SMS and automated calls based messages

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Grand Challenges Canada

  collaborator OTHER

• University of British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER

• Aga Khan University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Abdul M Kazi, MBBS,MPH · The Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

1 Day

Max Age

14 Days

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-01-31

Primary Completion

2018-07-31

Completion

2018-09-30