This year’s World Health Day theme is universal health coverage. While real progress is being made to reach this goal, millions of people still lack healthcare and millions more are forced to choose between healthcare and other necessities such as food and shelter.
In recent years India has made great strides in lowering the numbers of babies who die before their fifth birthday. There are two important reasons for this; a dedicated army of mostly female health workers, and the strategic use of technology.
More babies are born in India than in any other country in the world; every year more than 27 million new humans embark on life. Keeping them healthy and fully vaccinated is a huge logistical challenge in a vast country with such diverse terrain. Getting real time information is crucial.
To reach every child, the Ministry of Health, Government of India, in partnership with UNDP India and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, developed the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network, or eVIN.
EVIN is a smart vaccine logistics system to monitor vaccine stocks and temperatures in real time. It’s a mobile, cloud-based application that allows health workers to update information on vaccine stocks after every immunization session. These updates are stored on a cloud server, so officials can immediately see which vaccines are available.
The programme has plugged some important gaps in the existing system.
“Wastage of vaccines was very high, and after the introduction of eVIN all over the state it has been possible and very much easier for us to maintain the stock. And we have been able to shift the vaccines from one place to another place whenever required. So, it has helped us in routine immunization it has been a great success on top of this, and now it has been introduced in all other states in the country,” says Dr Ved Prakash, General Manager in Immunization, National Health Mission Uttar Pradesh.
India’s immunization teams comprise hundreds of thousands of cold chain handlers and frontline health workers. Before eVIN is rolled out, they are trained so they are confident using the technology.
Digital record keeping has made vaccine handlers’ work easier. It has also created a sense of agency and shared responsibility. More than 50 percent of the health staff are women who haven’t used the technology before. They’ve embraced eVIN with enthusiasm and competency. Having a dedicated a vaccine manager also helps link health and immunization officers with the ‘last mile’ health workers.
Bitola Devi is one of the dedicated healthcare professionals who’s been vaccinating against polio, tuberculosis and malaria for more than 30 years, and who is now learning new skills to continue her career.
“After vaccinating, we create a tally sheet and from there we enter the details on the device. I feel very happy and my children say proudly that our mother can enter data on a computer,” she says.
Vaccine and Logistics Utilization Evaluator, or VALUE is an extension of eVIN. VALUE uses the same tools to digitize vaccine records, which makes reporting and monitoring of immunization data easier.
It was piloted in 2017 in two districts in Rajasthan and was expanded to six districts of Uttar Pradesh in 2018.
By using VALUE health workers such as Ranjubala can record the number of vaccine doses administered during each immunization session. This makes it easier for her to keep tabs on progress made in the Government of India's Universal Immunization Programme, one of the most ambitious of its kind. Together with the data recorded by eVIN, it can be used to monitor use, evaluate waste and promote the efficiency of these life-saving vaccines.
More than nine million immunizations are carried out each year in India, and eVIN and VALUE are contributing towards the success of India’s health policies.
The programmes demonstrate that low-cost, smart technology combined with the right training of last mile workers, can create a transformative service that truly ensures no one is left behind.
Story and photos by UNDP India
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
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