mHealth Intervention for Improving Vaccination Coverage in Bangladesh

Noncompliance and delay in vaccination have caused millions of preventable deaths worldwide particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). The main reasons for delay in vaccinations or dropout from vaccination programs are vaccine hesitancy, lack of knowledge, forgetting due date, lack of trust, and religious and social barriers. Recently, various mobile health (mHealth) interventions such as voice call, text message reminders have been implemented in LMICs to improve awareness of vaccine availability and provide timely reminders. However, the implication and impact assessment of mHealth interventions with behavior change message for improving vaccination coverage and timeliness is limited. In this project, a three-armed cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) will be conducted to assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of mHealth interventions with behavioral change approach on vaccination coverage and timeliness in Bangladesh. A total of 7800 caregivers of children aged less than 4 weeks will be recruited and randomly allocated equally to each arm: control, voice call, and short message service (SMS) reminders with behavioral change message. The primary outcomes will include coverage of full immunization among children in first year of life, and secondary outcomes will be coverage for each vaccine, timeliness, and infant mortality.