POST 01068E : TEMPERATURE MONITORING DEVICES INTERPRETATION

POST 01068E : TEMPERATURE MONITORING DEVICES INTERPRETATION 23 March 2007 ____________________________________ Dear all, According to WHO Guidelines on the international packaging and shipping of vaccines (WHO/IVB/05.23) a 10-day electronic temperature monitoring device should be included in each international vaccine shipping carton. Ten-day electronic temperature monitoring devices show when, and to what extent, the set temperature conditions have been violated. There are two different types of devices. Type 1 with YELLOW backing card is for DTP, TT, DT, Td, HepB, IPV, liquid Hib and combination vaccines while Type 2 with BLUE backing card will be for OPV, freeze-dried BCG, measles, MR, MMR, Hib, yellow fever and meningitis vaccines. There are different set alarms in Type 1 and 2 devices. There has been a series of meetings with PAHO and UNICEF SD for planning the introduction of electronic devices in international shipments. Both UNICEF and PAHO will be gradually introducing the devices in international shipments in 2007. The document at the link below was produced by Quality, Safety and Standards (QSS) team as part of a training package that is under development. The document describes step-by-step what to do when the shipment arrives at the country level. http://www.technet21.org/fichiers_Word/TempMonitorInterpretation-Shipments.doc (2.6 MB) In addition to this document, an animated PowerPoint presentation will be released soon. WHO will also print posters of enlarged tables from the pages 6 and 7 of the document hyperlinked above. All training materials will be translated into other UN languages. With the introduction of electronic temperature monitoring devices, the Vaccine Arrival Report (VAR) is also being modified (see pages 26-28 in the document). In addition to the VAR, an Electronic device alarm report form is being introduced to be filled in only when electronic devices indicate an ALARM status (see pages 29-32). For a smooth introduction, UNICEF and WHO will establish help desk support to assist recipient countries. WHO is working closely with UNICEF SD to introduce the devices and their user instructions in forthcoming regional and global meetings. An interactive web page on the use of electronic devices will also be designed at QSS vaccine quality web site in coming months. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Umit Dr. Umit Kartoglu, MD, DPH Scientist FCH/IVB/QSS, World Health Organization Geneva 27, Switzerland mailto:[email protected] ______________________________________________________________________________ All members of the TechNet21 e-Forum are invited to send comments on any posting or to use the forum to raise a new discussion or request technical information in relation to immunization services. The comments made in this forum are the sole responsibility of the writers and do not in any way mean that they are endorsed by any of the organizations and agencies to which the authors may belong. ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : mailto:[email protected] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (http://www.ccisd.org) ______________________________________________________________________________