Jakarta, July 23 – Tens of thousands of Indonesian health workers will benefit from a recently launched UNDP-supported e-learning platform on the digital vaccination application SMILE. The platform includes tutorials and a 24-hour support via WhatsApp to strengthen the monitoring of vaccine logistic across this huge archipelagic nation.

More than 10,000 health workers have attended the online classes since the e-learning platform was launched earlier this month. The launching of the online learning platform came at an opportune time as the country gears up with the COVID-19 vaccination drive. Health workers across Indonesia are also faced with mobility restrictions due to the pandemic, making it difficult to attend offline trainings.  

Despite the pandemic, the Indonesian Government remains deeply committed to standardize health care delivery across the country. The online learning tools will allow the authorities to see through this commitment, as health workers can access resources at any time from any location, even in the most rural areas.

SMILE is a mobile and web-based application for immunization and logistics monitoring system, developed by UNDP and Indonesia’s Ministry of Health. It has been included for use by health workers to monitor vaccine logistics since 2018.  The system was piloted in the provinces of Banten and West Java in the cities of South Tangerang, and Bogor, at 55 community health centers.

To ensure wide participation The timing of the online classes has been set to adjust participants from the country’s eastern areas where it’s 2 hours behind the capital Jakarta.

When the COVID-19 pandemic kicked in 2020, SMILE was deployed in four provinces for routine immunization programs, The use of SMILE was expanded in 2021 to 13 provinces (Aceh, North Sumatera, South Sumatera, Bangka Belitung, D.I Yogyakarta, East Java, South Kalimantan, Bali, Gorontalo, South Sulawesi, Papua and West Papua), 82 districts and 1,969 community health centers, creating a need for online learning.

It is hoped that SMILE’s success can help encourage other countries handling the challenges of the pandemic to focus on enhancing education through technology.

In accessing the e-Learning, users are required to use their account in the SMILE application. This is to ensure security and consistency of information that will be received by all health workers.

To access the learning platform, click: e-Learning page.

-

Written by Nadine Hasan.

Edited by Tomi Soetjipto and Ranjit Jose.