Inspired by the case of fake vaccine distribution that had disturbed the society, UGM students make an application for reading the QR (Quick Response) Code in vaccine bottle product. Moreover, the app can read how many times the bottle has been used. The application can also check whether the vaccine product is genuine or not.
Those students are Novrizal Dwi Rozaq, Anggito Kautsar, Musthafa Abdur Rosyied, Aditya Laksana Suwandi, and Almantera Tianta. They are the students at Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering UGM. This application is named as APLISIN, an Indonesian acronym that stands for Genuine Check Application. “By using this application, the society can directly check whether the vaccine is genuine or not,” said Novriza, one of the team members, on Friday (11/8).
For six months, the team conducted research and made the application. The issue on the distribution of fake vaccine, according to Novriza, is caused by the unawareness of the society regarding how to check its genuineness. By using this application, the society can ensure the vaccine genuineness by scanning the QR code on the bottle. Unfortunately, the Indonesian Drugs and Food Control Agency (BPOM) also has yet to be able to control the distribution of the fake vaccine.
APLISIN is developed through the Students Creativity Programme UGM 2017. According to Novriza, how it works is simple. The application will scan the QR code on the vaccine bottle. The scan result will be verified by the application. The system will also confirm whether the QR code is registered in the database. If the QR code is not registered, it can be concluded that the vaccine is fake.
If the QR code is registered, the vaccine is genuine, if not, then it is fake or the vaccine bottle has been used before. Unfortunately, according to Novriza, there are many vaccine bottles that do not have QR code. There is only the registration number from BPOM on the bottle. “We hope the vaccine company can enlist the QR code,” said Anggito, one of the team members.
This application is still in the development stage. In the future, the students plan to engage BPOM to socialize the utilization of the application as well as engage several industries that produce vaccines. “In the meantime, we are only testing malaria and dengue fever vaccines,” he added.