Online inventory will be regularly updated and data will be public. PHOTO: FILE
To ensure a reliable supply of vaccines for deadly diseases, the government has established its first online cold chain inventory system.
“Due to the expiry of vaccines in the past, a massive outbreak of measles was witnessed,” said an EPI official who wished not to be named.
He further said that there is outdated cold chain equipment in some of districts of Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, which need to be repaired or replaced.
UNICEF, in collaboration with the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), launched this initiative for 55 districts at high-risk for polio at the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Wednesday.
The system will help government maintain cold chain inventory, plan and to generate a multi-year forecast of equipments need to meet the future requirements.
According to UNICEF, this cold chain database will be incorporated in the existing Vaccine Logistic Management Information System. The online system will be regularly updated and data will be available to the public.
The need to conduct a cold chain inventory in Pakistan was highlighted by an international mission in September 2012. The recommendation for establishing this was endorsed by the National Steering Committee and National Vaccine Management Committee.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq said that there was a dire need to have such database in Pakistan to strengthen the coverage of routine immunisation.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2014.
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