OST 00101E : VVM ANNIVERSARY 2 June 2007
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WHO celebrates 10-year anniversary of VVM implementation
Vaccine vial monitors (VVM) were introduced in 1996 through UN
procurement agencies. The VVMs serve primarily to warn health workers
when the cumulative heat exposure of a vial of vaccine has exceeded a
pre-set limit, beyond which the vaccine should not be used. In addition,
changes in the appearance of the VVM before this limit is reached will
serve to guide health workers to first use more exposed vials of
vaccines. Thus, the VVMs have ensured that the administered vaccine has
not been damaged by heat, saved money through reduced vaccine wastage,
facilitated immunization outreach services and helped to effectively
manage vaccine stocks.
Today, all vaccines (with a couple of exceptions) come with VVMs through
UN procurement agencies. There is also a 20-year development history
behind this successful implementation. In order to mark the 10 years of
successful implementation of VVMs and to acknowledge the efforts put
into this device by individuals, organizations, institutions and
manufacturers, a celebration event took place in Geneva on 3 May 2007.
Following this event, a similar event will be organized in the USA as
part of the Global Health Council - Partnerships Working Together
conference on 29 May-1 June 2007 hosted by PATH, along with another
event in India later this year.
With the event, WHO and UNICEF announced a new policy statement
(http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_j ... t_2007.pdf , 810K)
focusing on the future of VVM, urging Member States to include VVMs in
all tender documents, as well as urging donors to adopt a donation
policy for inclusion of VVMs in all vaccine donations.
The event brought together around 120 representatives from diplomatic
missions to the UN, countries, vaccine manufacturers, public sector
agencies, donors and individuals. The celebration event was chaired by
Ms Daisy Mafubelu, Assistant Director-General, Family and Community
Health. Following the opening remarks by Ms Mafubelu, the video "Five
Senses" video, shot in Viet Nam, Niger and Indonesia early this year,
was shown. The film focuses on how VVM helps countries to reach more
children by simply relying on the effective use of VVMs (directed by
Umit Kivanc). The story of the FIVE SENSES video can be downloaded from
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_Five_senses.pdf
Following the movie four speakers gave a brief history of VVMs: Debbie
Kristensen from PATH focused on the problem definition that emerged from
VVM development (1979-1989); Ted Prusik from Temptime Corporation talked
on the solution, the VVM; Dario Cresci from Novartis brought the
industry response in implementing VVMs and how the challenges were
handled in applying the monitor on vials; and Mercy Ahun from GAVI
talked on the field benefits. To acknowledge the efforts put into this
tool, WHO distributed recognition certificates to countries,
organizations, agencies, and individuals for their contribution to
development and early implementation of VVMs (see the full list of
recipients at :
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_Recognition_certificates.pdf
A photo exhibition entitled Five Senses by Umit Kartoglu, Jean-Marc
Giboux, Philippe Blanc and Gencer Yurttas on the use of VVMs in the
field was opened in the main entrance of the main building from 3-11 May.
Clicking here, you can view the press release and a photo essay on VVM
use.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2007/np21/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/features/2007/vvm/en/index.html
For the Geneva event, Ãœmit Kartoglu talked to John Lloyd, Michel
Zaffran, Peter Evans, Julie Milstien and Dario Cresci on VVM history.
Lloyd, Zaffran, Evans and Milstien worked together in WHO HQ on VVM
during its early development stages as well as its implementation.
Cresci was on the other side of the table - the industry. In 2001,
Kartoglu joined the team, but after the departure of Lloyd and Evans
from WHO.
The following interviews bring interesting stories to daylight. When
Kartoglu asked what was next, Lloyd, Zaffran, Evans, Milstien and Cresci
all stressed the same point: using VVM to allow immunization programmes
to exploit the stability of each vaccine. To use it to the greatest
possible extent to minimizing distribution costs, and increasing
flexibility in the handling of vaccines in the field, thus helping to
make operations more effective. They all agreed that the mission is now
reducing the dependency on the cold chain. VVM is seen as the answer to
this challenge. To read these interviews click on the corresponding
links below.
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_John_Lloyd.pdf
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_Michel_Zaffran.pdf
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_Peter_Evans.pdf
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_Julie_Milstien.pdf
http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/VVM_Dario_Cresci.pdf
Umit Kartoglu
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