Affordable Transport to Access Immunization

Rozina Feroz Ali of IRD Global Limited in Singapore along with Subhash Chandir and Danya Arif will establish a subsidized carpool for Pakistani women in rural areas and urban slums to improve access to immunization centers and increase vaccination coverage. Poor vaccine coverage in Pakistan is a result of the combined effects of poverty, lack of education, poor access to transportation, and distantly located vaccination centers; populations in rural areas and urban slums are vulnerable to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease and an increased childhood mortality rate. They will develop a system to provide women with transport to vaccine centers at affordable rates, educate them on the importance of vaccination through short videos played during the ride, and promote the service in the community by branding the commuting vehicles with vaccine and schedule information. Dedicated vehicles will offer fixed-price, round trip transportation to vaccination centers along specific routes with designated pick-up and drop-off times. In addition to improving access to vaccination, this system will work to improve gender equality in Pakistan; the ability to travel independently decreases female dependence on male family members. They will test it in a rural setting or urban slum in Pakistan and evaluate the number of users, number of children vaccinated, and estimated impact on vaccine coverage.