A combination of both mobile phone reminders and an incentive of mobile phone talk time increased vaccination coverage of children in rural India from 33% to 50%, according to findings published in the journal Pediatrics.
“Mobile and web connectivity have expanded exponentially in several countries in both rural and urban settings, with a dramatic decrease in costs for messaging and connectivity,” said Delhi-based Dr. Rajeev Seth.
To assess the efficacy of compliance-linked incentives for improving pediatric vaccination rates compared with mobile phone messaging, Seth and colleagues conducted a study. They found that improvements in immunization rates and a slight improvement in promptness of vaccination were independently associated with compliance-linked incentives.
“We believe that the use of GPS-linked records could further improve immunization coverage of communities and also assist in response to disease outbreaks,” Seth and his team noted.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
