EPI was set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global initiative, in many developing countries, to address VPDs. This is the programme through which routine immunization is provided to the public. There are many obstacles in the lower and middle-income countries to implement routine immunization that includes logistical obstacles, inefficient health workers attitude, parental awareness, cultural and religious influences in the countries. To address the obstacles in EPI program improving coverage and meeting immunization targets through technological interventions can aid the health managers to improve routine immunization.

Pace Technologies is a leader in Pakistan to develop the MIS systems for EPI Program. We developed a technology mix product both a web interface and mobile application to cater to the needs of the immunization programme with the capability of interoperability with other systems prevailing in any country. The opensource Real-time Immunization System (ORTIS - http://openrtis.pace-tech.com/) is an opensource solution of Pace Technologies that is currently implemented in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including merged region (FATA) and Balochistan Provinces, and AJK, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad regions. The ORTIS is an integrated product that can respond to all aspects of the EPI programme in any country on the globe. This includes inventory and warehouse management, order management, surveillance, SIAs, Human Resource, cold chain equipment, asset management, RED/REC microplanning, vaccine demand and forecasting, EIR, etc. The system is fully capable of responding to the needs of the immunization managers such as calculating coverage, identify dropouts, defaulter’s child and women, fully immunized children etc.

The ORTIS is a complete real-time system that can collect the data from the lowest level of service delivery to the logistics data at any supply chain level. Besides real-time, the system can collect the data periodically if the site is not ready to report real-time data. The CERV is an Android application (http://openrtis.pace-tech.com/rtis.html), integrated with ORTIS is designed for vaccinators for real-time data capture to identify the defaulter and missed children by capturing hand/foot thumbprint impressions of newborn and children, capture logistics, consumption, coverage, inventory visibility and cold chain volume & functional status.