by Hai Le and Kien Vu, PATH To accompany the article “Do battery-free solar refrigerators work in low-light conditions?” in this month’s newsletter, Optimize has published a photo set on Flickr that reveals how the solar refrigerators were installed and tested. The photo set includes photogr...

by Joanie Robertson, PATH, and Steve McCarney, Solar Electric Light Fund Field-tests conducted in the cloudy north of Vietnam suggest there may be a bright future for battery-free solar refrigerators in low-light conditions. As reported in the Op.ti.mize October 2011 issue, project Optimize ...

by Kristina Lorenson, PATH Regional distribution centers (RDCs) may be a realistic option for countries that distribute large quantities of vaccines and need to invest in cold chain infrastructure, according to a report by project Optimize. The report, completed this month, assesses the cost of ...

by Mojtaba Haghgou, consultant, and Ramzi Ouichi, WHO A web-based version of the Vaccination Supply Stock Management (VSSM) tool has been successfully deployed in Iran. Now, project Optimize is collaborating with the Tunisian Ministry of Health to field-test wVSSM in Tunisia. VSSM is an open...

by Magda Robert and Laurie Werner, Decade of Vaccines Collaboration Over the past year, the Decade of Vaccines (DoV) Collaboration has been developing a Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). The plan is now being finalized and will be presented for endorsement at the 65th World Health Assembly, to ...

The Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is preparing to celebrate the third Regional Vaccination Week during the week of 24 – 30 April 2012, coinciding with the first World Immunization Week. Vaccination Week is an annual initiative celebrating and promoting immunization through innovative...

The “Autonomy Tool” is a method of sizing solar power systems. It was developed several years ago. I recently reread the instructions describing the application of this sizing technique. From my interpretation of the instructions the “Autonomy Tool” can be used to size battery powered systems or dir...

The two main challenges in implementing Routine Immunization are: 1) reaching all the beneficiaries, tracking and holding them to achieve full vaccination, and 2) immunizing the vaccinated, i.e., attaining seroconversion for specific protection against VPD. The latter requires high quality service ...

Cross-posted from the February 2012 Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. 29/02/2012 from Jhilmil Bahl, WHO HQ As the introductions of Pneumo and Rota vaccines in 2012 are fast approaching, training materials are being developed at WHO/HQ. Rotarix materials will be available by mid-Ma...

Cross-posted from the February 2012 Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. 29/02/2012 from Claudio Politi, Oumar Sagna and Daniela Urfer, WHO/HQ New data on immunization financing are available based on the WHO/UNICEF Joint Report Form (JRF) reported by countries. Indicators on government...

The Journal of Infectious Diseases has a special issue (March 1, 2012: Suppl.1) devoted to the very important topic of integration of immunization with health services delivery. The wide-ranging articles cover experiences, integration framework, integration in outreach services, improving coverage ...

Cross-posted from the WHO website. Many thanks to Hayatee Hasan Every immunization programme in the world has a national vaccination schedule that specifies the age at which antigens are to be given. But as we well know, in real life things rarely go according to plan! Inevitably, children and...

India has been taken off the polio endemic list. This short film, uploaded by the Gates Foundation, acknowledges the people in the field who made it possible. [youtube]FeuApCaX-o8&feature=plcp&context=C3d05e73UDOEgsToPDskKx3MV45kovP1M0bAtb6Hbj[/youtube] In a related article, T Jacob ...

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that the HPV vaccine be administered at 11 to 12 years of age in both boys and girls.I do not know the studies that show cost-benefit analysis of the vaccine in females, especially in a scenario when many countries are against this vaccine. The ...

Cross-posted from the January 2012 [i]Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. [/i] 31/01/2012 from UNICEF Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS) The suggestion that I post this news came from Mojtaba Haghgou--the VSSM expert. Following the decision...

I agree with Mansoor, on many occasions vaccination alone cannot protect children well. Using India's experiences, improving water sanitation and its key messages in polio eradication, we all should use the opportunity of new vaccine introduction to communicate with the community about all preventiv...

Cross-posted from the January 2012 issue of GIN with thanks. 31/01/2012 from Madhav Balakrishnan, WHO HQ The Global Network for Post-marketing Surveillance (PMS) of Vaccines was established by WHO in early 2008 with a primary objective to monitor the safety of WHO prequalified vaccines supplied thr...

Cross-posted from the January 2012 GIN issue with thanks. 31/01/2012 from Philipp Lambach, WHO HQ An important part of post-licensure vaccine safety surveillance is to collect and analyse reports of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI). Analysing multiple AEFI reports helps determine if ...

Cross-posted from the January 2012 Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. 31/01/2012 from Osman Mansoor, UNICEF Pneumonia and diarrhoea remain the top two causes of child deaths. The availability of new vaccines against the top causes of pneumonia (Hib, PCV) and diarrhoea (RV) in children...

Cross posted from http://www.childsurvival.net with many thanks to Robert Davis NOTE FROM ROBERT DAVIS INVITING CONTRIBUTIONS The Expanded Programme on Immunization, now the world's largest public health programme, is approaching its fortieth birthday. It got started in a small suite of offi...