Tanjung Pinang, 24 May 2022 – The Indonesian Government has selected SMILE, a digital vaccine and cold chain monitoring app developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Health, to bolster the national campaign for childhood vaccinations, following the app’s critical role in strengthening the COVID-19 vaccination drives.

More than 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been distributed to 12,000 health facilities through the vast archipelago with the help of the Sistem Monitoring Informasi Logistik secara Elektronik (SMILE) digital application. SMILE is now being used in conjunction with the government’s Aplikasi Sehat Indonesiaku (ASIK) system used by the Ministry of Health, to ensure efficient and timely delivery of routine vaccines. 

The announcement was made last week at the launch of National Childhood Immunization Month (BIAN) campaign in Tanjung Pinang city of Riau Islands province. The Health Ministry hosted the event along with its key partners in BIAN’s campaign, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 

Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin called on the importance of catching up routine immunization to enhance countrywide vaccination coverage following a drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The recent decline in routine immunization coverage is due to a range of factors including supply chain disruptions, lockdown measures and reduced availability of health personnel that led to the partial suspension of vaccination services at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to make sure that the coverage and target of routine immunization can be achieved through BIAN implementation starting this month,” said Mr. Sadikin.

“Technological innovation is necessary to support large-scale immunization drives in a vast country with geographical challenges like Indonesia. I'm pleased to see that our collaboration on SMILE application with the Ministry of Health has forged ahead to support the nation’s routine and vital childhood immunization programme which will help tens of millions of vaccine recipients. We are confident that SMILE will become the best system for keeping track of vaccines and health supplies which in turn will enhance the country's health system,” said Resident Representative of UNDP Indonesia, Mr. Norimasa Shimomura.

SMILE is an innovative platform that allows vaccine manager to instantly monitor vaccine inventory and storage temperature remotely, using digital technology and mobile application. The SMILE system has proven to be robust and reliable during COVID-19, lays out a solid foundation for Ministry of Health to expand the use of SMILE to manage supply chain of all vaccines across Indonesia.

The SMILE initiative was developed with financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Government of Japan through Japanese Supplementary Budget (JSB). SMILE’s objective is in line with Gavi’s global mission to sustain high immunization coverage and ensure equal access to life-saving vaccines.

SMILE involves a mobile and web app for cold chain handlers, a web interface for data storage, and a temperature log that monitors the storage temperature of vaccines to ensure that quality vaccines are delivered as required in a timely manner. 

-

Media Contact 

UNDP Indonesia, Communication Specialist

Tomi Soetjipto  

Mobile: +62 811 888814 

E-mail: suryo.tomi@undp.org  

UNDP Indonesia, SMILE Project Manager

Vidia Darmawi

Mobile: +62 812 8000474 

E-mail: vidia@undp.org