RIVM chooses AddComm

AddComm takes care of the printing of call-ups for the Institute's vaccination programme

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) coordinates the vaccination programme for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. This programme has been in place since 1957 and its aim is to protect all children in the Netherlands against infectious diseases that have been a major cause of fatality in the past. Since December 2012, AddComm has been looking after the distribution of hundreds of thousands of call-ups each year.

The National vaccination programme is divided into four phases. Children are invited to participate in each phase of the programme. Parents receive a call-up 4 to 6 weeks after the birth of their child. The call-up consists of a letter, an information brochure about the vaccination programme, a vaccination certificate and a call-up card for the various vaccinations. The children are recalled again at the age of four and six.. Girls also receive a call-up at the age of thirteen for the HPV vaccination.

Ready to send

AddComm looks after the design, printing, enveloping and ready-to-post delivery of the call-up sets. "We opted for AddComm after the tender as they were best suited to our needs," says Irmgard Zonnenberg, account manager for the RIVM's national vaccination programme. "It is essential to us that the call-up programme is executed securely, on time and with due consideration for privacy. That is why we carry out regular spot checks to see if the right information has been included in the right envelope. Up until recently we had to do that on location. Now, however, we can check the contents of the envelopes online via the digital service 'my AddComm'. This makes everything much faster and far more efficient."

Use of paper or digital media

AddComm has also been asked to help us make the most of digital possibilities. Irmgard Zonnenberg: "At the moment, the call-up set is still a 'paper trail'. AddComm is looking into ways in which we can best use e-mail, the mobile phone network and social media in the future. They also had the best proposals for this aspect in their tender."