Ensuring immunity: USAID hands over EPI resource centre

Centre is equipped with IT equipment and specialised Vaccine Logistics Management Information System software.

ISLAMABAD:

The United States government handed over the state-of-the-art Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Coordination and Planning Resource Centre to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation, and Coordination (NHSRC) on Tuesday.

The centre was jointly inaugurated by the Minister of State for NHSRC Saira Afzal Tarar and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Health Office Director Jonathan Ross.

According to a press release, the centre is equipped with information technology equipment and specialised Vaccine Logistics Management Information System (VLMIS) software which can track vaccine supply to union council levels across Pakistan. This digital tracking and data collection system ensures quality, consistency and timeliness of the supply, stated the release.

NHSRC Secretary Imtiaz Inayat Elahi said experience shows that EPI does not possess an efficient logistics and inventory system for vaccines and cold-chain equipment with the capacity to meet demand.

“The new system will provide data visibility at the federal, provincial, district and union council level for planners and implementers to take informed decisions to bring about improvements in EPI,” he said.

“This (centre) will serve as a hub for improving the planning, coordination, procurement, supply and utilisation of vaccines throughout Pakistan,” said Ross. He reaffirmed the US government’s commitment to improving health indicators in Pakistan and said USAID is providing $387 million worth of sustainable health development assistance.

Tarar said EPI is a major public health initiative but the supply chain management of these costly vaccines was a missing link and posed a big challenge for Pakistan, she said. “Pakistan is trying to ensure the supply of vaccines for every child but the actual coverage on the ground is much lower which is a major cause for concern,” she added. “Unless we improve our routine immunisation coverage, we cannot save our children from dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2013.