Geotracking improves outbreak response targeting, ensuring fewer children are left behind
When polio vaccinators fanned out across areas of the Republic of Congo last year to stop an outbreak, they carried a powerful new tool in their pockets: cellphones that tracked their progress as they went door to door. Equipped with a mobile app, the phones sent data back to a command center where staff could see on a digital map if homes were missed and redirect teams on the ground.
With support from the World Health Organization and other partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the country is helping pioneer the use of what is known as geospatial tracking to stop polio outbreaks. Instead of relying on hand-drawn maps that are prone to errors, response team leaders can see with pinpoint accuracy where vaccinators have been
and which homes they didn’t get to. This happens in real time when a wireless connection is available. Such speed and precision are crucial to ensuring that a vaccine reaches each child and outbreaks are stopped.
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