Vaccination On Wheels Initiative
A fellow of the Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Jignesh Patel, has launched a Vaccination-on-Wheels Initiative, a first-of-its-kind service in India, in Pune.
The Vaccination On Wheels Initiative is launched in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation has provided funds to Mr. Jignesh Patel under its Grand Challenges Explorations.
Called Vaccination On Wheels Initiative, it will go to schools, colleges, and corporate offices, to offer vaccination services at their doorsteps. The program was launched on December 15, 2019. This unique, unconventional, low-cost, creative and high on convenience model has been designed with the idea of reaching to the lowest strata of the society.
Mr. Jignesh Patel founded Jivika Healthcare to provide this vaccination service. Additional features of the Vaccination On Wheels Initiative include:
- Providing low-cost vaccination services to the low-income group of the population.
- To create awareness about the government’s immunization program and sells only those vaccines which are not provided through the government.
- Cold chain maintenance as per WHO guidelines with state-of-the-art equipment.
Prof. Renu John, Co-Head, CfHE, and Head, Department of Biomedical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad congratulated Mr. Patel on launching the Vaccination On Wheels Initiative. He
highlighted that the program offers unique initiatives to cover the last mile in delivering vaccines to people of all strata of society.Jivika Healthcare Social Workers will explain how vaccines can save the lives of children & money by avoiding hospitalization. Every week between Monday to Saturday, the social workers create awareness and utilize Sunday to invite interested families to visit the clinic for the vaccination drive.
Mr. Patel added that the initiative is to support the government and society in getting children fully immunized as per WHO and Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) standards for children.
On the day of the inauguration, the team successfully administered 27 vaccinations to children from low-income group families.
