Mojtaba Haghgou and Hailu Kenea write from Islamabad (Pakistan) and share newspaper clippings on the Federal Vaccine Store in Islamabad. The Government of Pakistan is committed to improving the quality parameters of the Federal Vaccine Store located in the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islam...

Hello, I would like to enquire if someone has worked on setting up a manufacturing plant for safety boxes in Africa. If such an attempt has been made, what have the outcomes been. I am assuming the safety boxes are currently being imported from elsewhere. Regards, Abhisheka Jhunjhunwala...

What service life do you think vaccine refrigerators should be able to provide? For example, some products may suggest a 10 year life while others suggest longer, with typical repairs. PQS requires a 2 year warranty for a vaccine fridge. Solar powered vaccine fridge systems require solar electric mo...

Dear moderator: As you may know, since November 2007, IMMUNIZATIONbasics project, along with other partners, started to provide extensive technical support to the National Immunization Program (NIP) in Rwanda, helping technical staff with the preparation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduct...

Dear Colleagues, Below please find information on newly devised incineratorfor healthcare waste and immunization waste developed by healthcare wasteexpert in Tanzania. The incinerator has the following features coupled together: 1) High tech chamber with burner(s), operated at 900C 2) Gas c...

Malaria is recognized as a major cause of death in some parts of India. there have been recent changes in the Indian Malaria Drug Policy (in 2008) and a new Operational Guideline for 2009 is being reviewed. One issue is the reports from field based organizations that show higher slide positivity (SP...

This issue of HIV & AIDS Treatment in Practice compiles examples of how mobiles phones in developing countries are being used creatively to advance public health. Suggest we compile similar examples in immunization programs. ##text##...

Dear Technet Readers, Addendum to the call for unpublished documents ("grey literature") on reasons for non-immunization: In collaboration with a new WHO project on Gender and Immunization, IMMUNIZATIONbasics would like to note a particular interest in reviewing unpublished data and infor...

Dear FORUM, The recent reports of NFHS/ DLHS reinforce the gap between the reported cverage and validated coverage, which is cause for concern. Whereas health managers react with denial and mistrust to the survey reports, we need to revisit and review the aggregate reporting system, which leaves a l...

Hello, With the advent of the new Pneumococcal and Rotavirus vaccines packaged in single dose pre-filled glass syringes, we are likely to be facing a complication in waste management. It's my understanding that this is likely to be a transitory trend for many of the new vaccines in the future, whic...

With the advent of new vaccines, an additional injection may be given at each immunization contact. For example countries using Pentavalent vaccine, when they introduce pneumo vaccine need to give additional injection to the child on the same day. Giving multiple injections (simultaneous injections...

The World Health Organization has prepared a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on vaccines for the new influenza A(H1N1), which can be accessed on the following website: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/frequently_asked_questions/vaccine_preparedness/en/index.html Jhimil Bahl, Techn...

The Advanced Immunization Management (AIM) e-Learning website recently launched a new module to help decision-making on rotavirus vaccine introduction. The module provides comprehensive information from basic disease characteristics through immunization session planning; this interactive online to...

The USAID-funded IMMUNIZATIONbasics project would appreciate your assistance in identifying studies and reports from developing countries that contain information on characteristics of, or reasons for, unvaccinated (or incompletely vaccinated) children. We are interested only in documents that are ...

Why Optimize?by Daisy Mafubelu, Assistant Director General, WHO Family and Community Health Cluster,and Chris Elias, President and CEO, PATH In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) and PATH jointly launched Optimize, a five-year effort to help countries anticipate and manage the growing complex...

Are Vertical Supply Chains Still Necessary?by Modibo Dicko, Coordinator, Project Optimize, WHO For the past 30 years, immunization—like many other health programs—has been managed as a vertical program with its own management team, reporting requirements, personnel, and supply chain. Attempts to li...

The Role of Handheld Devices in Immunizationby Olivier Ronveaux, Technical Officer EPI, WHO For 30 years, paper and pencil have been the dominant form of record keeping in immunization programs through out the world. After all, paper is inexpensive and ubiquitous, functional in case of power-outage,...

by Joanie Robertson, Technical Officer, PATH In March 2009, six companies submitted designs to PATH in response to its Battery-Free Solar Refrigerator Challenge. Product designs that meet desired specifications will receive financial assistance to cover the cost of third-party testing required for...

Public Sector and Industry: Working Together to Better Meet Developing Country Needsby Debra D. Kristensen, Senior Technical Officer and Policy Advisor, PATH, and Christopher B. Nelson, Senior Director, Medical Affairs and Policy, Merck & Co, Inc. Originally established in 2007 by the GAVI Allia...

Demonstration Projects to Evaluate Innovative System Changes by Carol Levin, Senior Health Economist, PATH Starting in 2009, Optimize will begin large-scale demonstration projects with four collaborating countries and conduct operational research with several others to build an evidence base for the...