For many years it has been the advice to national immunization programmes to have a "supermarket approach" to the delivey of vacines to health care clients. Basically, whenever a child showed up in a health facility, the vaccination would have to be provided, ie. if necessary a vial opened...

On 11 May the Safe Injection Global Network published its 598th (yes, 598th) electronic newsletter that reaches some 800 subsribers worldwide. This week's email celebrates World Blood Donor Day but also has 24 other items about safe and appropriate use of injections throughout the world. Examples ...

The national vaccine policy draft, submitted by the government in the Delhi High Court recently, strongly favours inclusion of new vaccines in the Universal Immunisation Programme of the country. The court had sought the draft from the Centre last year in a petition against introduction of new va...

Hi all! Though I've looked around TechNet before and found some very insightful info, this is my first time to post! I'm a student intern at an organization that seeks to better understand the problems of the cold chain and reasons for vaccine wastage. With immunization programs in developing c...

Dear Moderator, I am perturbed to know that people of Bangladesh have to pay Tk 40.25 to get obsolete Nerve Tissue Vaccine (NTV), recommended not to be used by WHO, but they are getting Pentavalent Free ! Banglaseh spends approximately Tk 1 crore ( 10 Million )every year on nerve tissue vaccine. I...

I'm looking for any studies or documents comparing the implementation operational considerations for refrigerators by energy type. For example, we often hear that solar refrigerators are hard to maintain, petrol are difficult to keep a consistent temperature, etc. I'm looking for a documented source...

A friend brought this to my attention and I wanted to share it the community in case there are developers out there with extra time and neat ideas, and in the event that winning applications might be beneficial in their approach to other immunization projects. CDC Flu App Challenge: $35,000 in p...

Many thanks! A dozen updates this week as the new vaccine pledging meeting approaches. Will the funds pledged next month cover the needs for introduction of rotavirus, pneumococcal and HPV vaccines? ‘The doubt is permitted,’ as they say in French. Here are the titles of the new technical upda...

Are dairy chains and routine vaccine chains complementary? In Karnataka (South India) milk unions pick-up milk from even remote villages with amazing regularity/predictability (without special technology to speak of). Vehicles with "chillers" travel empty, and return with milk to the semi-urban proc...

by Simona Zipursky, PATH; Christoph Conrad, WHO/Quality, Safety & Standards; Tony Richardson, CDC/Vaccine Supply & Assurance Branch They call it the Decade of Vaccines for a reason. More new vaccines will become available between 2010 and 2020 than all previous decades combined. Not onl...

by Steve McCarney, John Lloyd, and Joanie Robertson, PATH A group of public- and private-sector partners are collaborating with project Optimize to evaluate a range of innovative transportation and storage containers for heat-sensitive drugs and vaccines that operate in environments with or without...

by Steve McCarney and Joanie Robertson, PATH Many health facilities in remote areas operate without grid electricity, have unreliable electricity, or find that using electricity is too costly. In these settings, solar energy is a promising solution for powering the storage and transportation need...

by Yves Chartier, WHO, and Olga Popova, Crucell Worldwide immunization programs have had an enormously positive impact on health and health care since 1974 when the World Health Assembly launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization. However, like all great achievements the effort has unveiled ...

Evaluation of mid-level management training in immunisation in the African region. Mutabaruka E, Dochez C, Nshimirimana D, Meheus A. World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Division of Communicable Diseases, Immunization and Vaccine Development, Brazzaville, Congo. Abstract OBJEC...

Project Optimize is seeking real-life stories of how vaccine vial monitors are making an impact in the field. If you would like to share your story, please reply to this forum post. Dont hesitate to also post photographs if you have some Thanks in advance Michel Zaffran...

Claude Letarte reminds us that 24 March 2011 was World Tuberculosis Day and shares with us links to the free BCG World Atlas published by McGill University and partners in Montreal. The Atlas is: "a first-of-its-kind, easy-to-use, searchable website that provides free detailed information on current...

Dear Moderator, Four more infants died due to measles vaccination in Kutch on March 16 and two more died on March 18. There are deaths being reported consistantly all over the country within few minutes of vaccination but none has been attributed to vacination by the investigating...

Epidemiologists and public health researchers from multiple institutions are collaborating to gather and analyze the best available data on deaths and sick days caused by over 100 diseases and injuries around the world. The culmination of their work is the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. RT...

Have put together some slides on the issues involved. This is an educational power point- long, but of use to prepare classes for health workers or doctors- http://www.slideshare.net/prabirkc/toxic-shock-syndrome...

Background: In 2010 the 63rd World Health Assembly called for a comprehensive response to viral hepatitis. As mandated by the WHA, from 2011 onwards, World Hepatitis Day is promoted on 28 July in order to provide an opportunity for awareness raising and greater understanding of viral hepatitis as...