LocationsDigital Health Innovations Reaching Every Shore
April 25, 2025
Louina Sattar, 44, picks her steps gingerly as she climbs down the slippery ferry ramp. As soon as she is on firm ground, she almost jogs to an autorickshaw to get to the Primary Health Centre at Bambooflat, a serene village on one of the thousand islands that make up the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. India has nearly 200,000 government health facilities run by millions of healthcare workers like Sattar, who are the driving force behind its vast immunization program. The Universal Immunization Programme, one of the largest in the world, caters to almost 27 million newborns and 29 million pregnant women annually, reaching even the most remote mountainous regions and distant islands.
But despite the dedicated efforts of healthcare workers, some children still miss lifesaving doses. At times, parents migrate to different states or cities for employment, or they remain unaware of the need for vaccination. In some cases, guardians or parents who are daily wage workers cannot afford to give up a day’s pay, resulting in missed vaccinations and endangering the health of newborns and infants.
Recognizing this challenge, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with support from UNDP and GAVI, rolled out a new digital immunization platform, U-WIN, to track and register pregnant women and children. U-WIN, short for Universal Immunization, is the first of its kind and has already registered over 75 million beneficiaries and recorded more than 281 million vaccine doses across the country between January 2023 to November 2024.
This app, which tracks the vaccination status of every pregnant woman and child in real-time, is a gamechanger for how India handles immunizations. It promises higher vaccine coverage and reduced infant mortality rates. “U-WIN has made a significant difference in our work as vaccinators,” says Sattar, a mother of two and an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife at the Bambooflat Primary Health Center.
“Earlier, we relied on physical records to know whose vaccination was due and how many were vaccinated. With U-WIN, this entire process is automated. We can easily create vaccination schedules in advance, and beneficiaries are also notified about upcoming vaccinations.”
Imagine receiving an advance message about your or your child’s upcoming vaccination on your mobile phone, whether it’s a smartphone or a simple one. This allows families to plan and manage their time better, a blessing for those who would otherwise spend most of the day waiting for their turn, sometimes even having to give up a day’s wages. It’s only 9:30 a.m., and the sun, which rises in Andaman almost two hours before mainland India, is already burning the morning mist away. Pregnant women and parents with their babies are trickling into the centre. “Thankfully, we no longer have to wait at health centers for long as we already received a message about the upcoming immunization and our time slot,” says 26-year-old Rajeshwari as she gently rocks her two-month-old daughter to sleep in the cool sea breeze.
U-WIN has been developed on the lines of Co-WIN, the state-of-the-art digital health system that became the backbone of India’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, helping administer over two billion COVID-19 vaccine doses in less than 18 months.
U-WIN acts as a seamless interactive system for more than 185,000 healthcare facilities spread across India, be it government or private hospitals in cities, or health centers located in rural areas. It also allows beneficiaries to get vaccinated anywhere in India, particularly benefiting migrant populations. These features will contribute to increased vaccine coverage, consequently lowering infant mortality rates. While digital health innovations like U-WIN increase access to vaccines and drive the goal of achieving equitable health for all, it is millions of foot soldiers like Sattar juggling her children’s homework and caring for aging parents while catching the 7 a.m. ferry to Bambooflat, who ensure every child gets the chance to live a healthy life.
“Children are our future. We need to do everything to keep them safe and healthy. That’s what makes my two-hour commute to the health center worth it"
Sattar smiles as she updates the vaccination record of another child and calls for the next.
Discover more in the third edition of UNDP India's flagship magazine Inspiring India
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