Infectious Disease Prevention in Abu Dhabi Enhanced by Electronic Immunization System

The IIS is developed to document complete immunization for all people in Abu Dhabi, particularly in the age group most at risk, birth through two years of age. The system captures immunization information electronically from healthcare providers and stores it centrally.

H.E. Prof. Dr. Maha Taysir Barakat, Director General of HAAD said: “Routine immunization is very important, and we urge all residents to take all recommended vaccines and parents to vaccinate their children. Moreover, with the electronic vaccination record, we can be pro-active in identifying and dealing with individuals who miss routine vaccination appointments, and hence reduce the risk of new preventable infectious diseases even further.” Since January 2015, the IIS has registered over 323,000 vaccine notifications, 37% of which were for UAE Nationals. IIS is available for all healthcare providers and is the only immunization information system accepted by HAAD. All healthcare providers must submit immunization notifications using IIS. Dr. Farida Al Hosani, Acting Director of Public Health and Research at HAAD, said: “Vaccines remain the strongest health toolkits protecting people of all age groups from infectious diseases in the world. Abu Dhabi Residents are urged to take necessary vaccines to stop vaccine-preventable diseases in the community.”

HAAD’s 2014 communicable diseases bulletin shows continuous decrease in chickenpox cases in the Emirate due to the introduction of varicella vaccine, while influenza cases witnessed a remarkable increase in notifications in Q1 and 4 which come in parallel with seasonal influenza (which correlated to increase testing of coronavirus and H1N1). There was a significant reduction in many vaccine-preventable diseases. For instance Measles cases dropped to 5 cases in quarter four of 2014, while cases in quarter one of 2015 were only half those of quarter one of 2014. This is a reflection of the effectiveness of the various vaccination campaigns – both the routine ones, and specific targeted ones, which covered outbreaks originating from unvaccinated visitors.

Commenting on the IIS system, Ali Mohamad Al Ali, Manager of IT at HAAD said: “Probably the first of its kind in the region, the IIS system helps to serve the public health goal of preventing the spread of vaccine preventable diseases. If a patient receives immunizations from more than one healthcare provider, the IIS consolidates the immunization information from all providers to create a complete and current record.”

“Healthcare providers can search vaccine history information via IIS using patient’s Emirates ID card. This assists healthcare providers to age-appropriately immunize all patients in their care,” Al Ali added. Furthermore, HAAD celebrated the success of the National Polio Campaign with its partners. According to HAAD data, 254,082 children were vaccinated during the campaign with 121,890 in round one (November 2014) and 132,192 in round 2 (January 2015).

Dr. Al Hosani, stressed that without vaccines, diseases such as polio and measles cannot be averted around the world. To appreciate the contributions of stakeholders in the National Polio Campaign, HAAD honored members from the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), Abu Dhabi Education Council, Abu Dhabi Police Medical Services, Medical Services – Ministry of Defense, Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care & Special Needs, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ADNOC Medical Services, United Arab Emirates University, General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (AWQAF), Emirates Red Crescent – Abu Dhabi, and Emirates Foundation along with 86 other healthcare facilities and departments who implemented the campaign. The rate of infectious disease cases in the UAE has dropped significantly since the launch of the National Immunization Programme (that entailed vaccination of children below 2 years) in 1980. In 1993, the UAE was declared as polio-free country. There has also been a dramatic reduction in number of measles, mumps, rubella and pertussis cases. According to the World Health Organisation vaccines save around 2 to 3 million lives annually.

The Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) is the regulative body of the Healthcare Sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ensures excellence in Healthcare for the community by monitoring the health status of the population. HAAD defines the strategy for the health system, monitors and analyses the health status of the population and performance of the system. In addition HAAD shapes the regulatory framework for the health system, inspects against regulations, enforces standards, and encourages adoption of world – class best practices and performance targets by all healthcare service providers in the Emirate. HAAD also drives programs to increase awareness and adoption of healthy living standards among the residents of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in addition to regulating scope of services, premiums and reimbursement rates of the health system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. www.haad.ae

Mahra Al Hajeri, Media Specialist, Health Authority - Abu Dhabi
Tel: +971 2 4193 295, email: malhajeri@haad.ae