Bracelet to encourage child immunisation

A simple plastic bracelet designed by mothers and nurses could become the most important reminder to monitor your child’s immunisation. The bracelet unveiled in Abuja last week won the immunisation advocacy group Alma Sana a share of the $1 million Global Healthcare Innovation Award, an initiative of the pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline and Save the Children. […]

A simple plastic bracelet designed by mothers and nurses could become the most important reminder to monitor your child’s immunisation.

The bracelet unveiled in Abuja last week won the immunisation advocacy group Alma Sana a share of the $1 million Global Healthcare Innovation Award, an initiative of the pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline and Save the Children.

Alma Sana president Lauren Braun said, “Given how much excitement and commitment there is around this project in Nigeria, it’s exciting to be able to bring these bracelets to parents so their children can be vaccinated on time.

“These bracelets could quite literally save these children’s lives so we are humbled to have such an incredible opportunity to help make that impact,” she added.

President of Wellbeing Foundation Toyin Saraki said, “The fantastic thing about this bracelet is that it is a visual reminder to educate mothers on whether their child has had the right immunisation at the right time.

“Clean plastic bracelet, put it on the baby’s wrist, wear it for nine months, punch holes with each immunisation that you get. So, if the child is immunised, both mother and medical worker can recognise that. I think anything that reminds us to get the right vaccination for our children at the right time is a programme that should be supported.”

The project is one of four worldwide to have won a share of the $1m award—the first recognition for a Nigerian innovation and the only winner in Africa this year.

The award was “designed with the understanding that those closest to a complex problem are best placed to design solutions to solve them,” said Bhushan Akshikar, managing director for GSK Nigeria.

The bracelet is meant to empower mothers by presenting them with a constant reminder of their baby’s vaccination schedules through symbols embedded in the bracelet, turning their babies’ ‘jewellery’ into a vaccine calendar and check-list.

In a previous study in Latin America, at least nine in 10 low-income mothers said seeing the bracelet on their child’s wrist helped remind parents of vaccination dates.

Nearly the same proportion said they would continue using the bracelet in future or recommend it to other parents.

A follow up study in Nigeria will determine whether children who wear the bracelets receive all required vaccines on-time compared to children who do not wear the bracelets.

If successful, the project will look to scale up within Nigeria over the next few years to help vaccinate all children on time and save more lives.

“We will be working with the NPHCDA to test the effectiveness in improving timeliness and completeness of immunization; we want to ensure that everyone has access to vaccinations and are excited to commence the pilot project over the next few weeks,” said Dr Shola Dele-Olowu , Nigeria implementing partner of Alma Sana.

Babatunde Ojei, deputy country director at Save the Children, said, “Immunization is one of the world’s most powerful tools for reducing under-five mortality and morbidity. Alma Sana selected Nigeria for their next program because of its poor vaccination rates and large population.”