Dear TechNet-21 community, Further to the publication of the English and French versions of the Decommissioning and safe disposal of cold chain equipment guidance earlier this year (available here https://bit.ly/2xTLDYa), we are glad to share with you that the Arabic and Russian versions of the document are now available in the TechNet-21 Resource Library. To access these documents, please click on the following links:
1. For the Arabic version:  https://www.technet-21.org/library/explore/cold-chain-equipment/5041-decommissioning-and-safe-disposal-of-cold-chain-equipment-arabic
2. For the Russian version: https://www.technet-21.org/library/explore/cold-chain-equipment/5042-decommissioning-and-safe-disposal-of-cold-chain-equipment-russian On behalf of UNICEF and WHO, I wish you an insightful reading and look forward to interesting and fruitful discussions with the TechNet-21 community! Michelle Seidel, Cold Chain Specialist - Immunization Supply Chain, UNICEF Programme Division (UN City Copenhagen)  

Dear TechNet-21 Colleagues, WHO PQS will be engaging with a selected group of PQS product manufacturers on Tuesday, July 10th to discuss and agree on a path forward for some significant proposed changes to immunization cold chain equipment standards. Although this is a closed event, the PQS Team and TechNet-21 are partnering to bring you exclusive insights from the meeting and I will be guest tweeting from the TechNet-21 Twitter account, sharing highlights and pictures from this first-of-its-kind event. All you have to do is follow the TechNet-21 Twitter account and check it on Tuesday, July 10th. If you don’t already follow TechNet-21 on Twitter (@TechNet21Mod) this is a great opportunity to start doing so! Looking forward to your virtual participation! Best wishes, Denise, on behalf of the PQS Team

We are happy to announce the latest version of the Total Cost of Ownership tool for cold chain equipment (v1.5) is now available to download and use. If you have been using an earlier version of the tool, please download the latest version from the link below.   Version 1.5 includes options to add Service Bundle quotes for CCEOP procurement which will overwrite installation cost assumptions.  Version 1.5 also features enhanced warranty comparisons that reflect the value of standard warranties from suppliers over time.  The latest version of the TCO tool contains PQS pre-qualified equipment as of May 2018. Please download the latest version (in English or French) for the most up to date products and pricing. http://www.path.org/publications/detail.php?i=2576  If you have any questions or would like any training/demos please email Matt Morio mmorio@path.org

hello every body Can you please share with me your SOPs for the managment and control of cold rooms. Best regards, Tarek

We are happy to announce the latest version of the Total Cost of Ownership tool for cold chain equipment (v1.4) is now available to download and use. If you have been using an earlier version of the tool, please download the latest version from the link below.   Version 1.4 includes filters for CCEOP eligible equipment, as well as filters for refrigerator/freezer combination devices.  The latest version of the TCO tool contains PQS pre-qualified equipment as of May 2017. Please download the latest version (in English or French) for the most up to date products and pricing. http://www.path.org/publications/detail.php?i=2576  If you have any questions or would like any training/demos please email Matt Morio mmorio@path.org

Dear All: how can we conduct study of cold room temperature mapping and how to analyse the data collected?

Bonjour Le Niger a entrepris en 2016 avec l'aide de ses partenaires la cartographie de la température dans ses Chambres froides. Nous avons beaucoup appris de cette expérience notamment sur : - La cartographie de toutes les chambres froides qu'elles soient anciennes ou nouvelles - Le réglage de la consigne d'arrêt des unités de réfrigeration - La fiabilité du Kit Berlinger (SmartView) Nous proposons les recommandations suivantes à d'autres pays intéressés par la cartographie de température : - Former les formateurs qui doivent poursuivre la cartographie dans le reste du pays - Doter l'équipe pays d'un kit de documentation et de matériels (kit log tag) - Installer des dispositifs de monitorage de température à distance dans toutes les chambres froides aux niveau central et régional. J'aimerai partager avec vous le resumé de cette activité dans le doucument attaché. Pour plus d'information ou de questions, veuillez contacter Abdoulaye Boubacar, Chef Service Logistique à la Direction des Immunisations, Niger, abdouboubacar01@yahoo.fr ou Cheick Tidiani Coulibaly Conseiller Technique, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. cheick_coulibaly@ne.jsi.com

Dear all UNICEF SD has issued a request for informtion for large size cold rooms. The purpose of this RFI is to draw a generic specification to accomodiate increasing demand for bigger size cold rooms .... We highly appriciate response from industries , acadamia , professional groups etc. Link https://www.unicef.org/supply/index_94605.html

Hello everyone,
We will in a few days to install the MultiLog 2 central cold chain in Madagascar. We have all the equipment and installation guide. What is missing is a positioning guide of temperature sensors inside the cold rooms. If you have this information, thank you to share to me. On our side, we conducted a temperature mapping to help us in this position. Regards,
Joel CODDET
Cold chain and logistic
OMS/WHO Madagascar

Thanks to the flexibility of the TechNet-21 website, I can share two older (circa 1985) collections of densely technical and highly practical equipment maintenance documents developed by WHO using the TechNet Resource Library (TRL). Once only available in hardcopy or in a digital corner of the online PATH Vaccine Resource Library, these materials are now available in two TRL collections:
1.http://www.technet-21.org/en/resources/technet-resource-library/collection?cid=57326d370016a
WHO User's Handbooks for Refrigerators and Cold Stores
A series of booklets to help refrigerator and cold store users look after their equipment better. Developed in 1983, includes user handbooks on compression, kerosene and electric, and gas and electric refrigerators, as well as cold stores. Contents in all booklets include: actions on receipt, parts list, starting process, periodic attention needs, fault-finding, and maintenance and repair tasks.
2.http://www.technet-21.org/en/resources/technet-resource-library/collection?cid=5731104a49f44
WHO Technician's Handbook for Compression Refrigerators
Technician's Handbook for Compression Refrigerators materials were produced in 1985 by WHO EPI to improve the standards of refrigerator and cold room maintenance and repair. These were course materials to support a 10 working day course for repair technicians.
Please take a moment to look at these unique materials and other great finds in the TRL.

Best regards,
Sophie

Outil de calcul du Coût Total de Possession d’équipements de la chaîne du froid
L’outil de calcul du Coût Total de Possession (CTP) d’équipements de la chaîne du froid a été développé afin d’assister les utilisateurs dans leur compréhension du coût d’achat et de maintenance des équipements de la chaîne du froid. L’outil peut être personnalisé pays par pays et calcule les dépenses en capital et en coûts d’opération pour les équipements préqualifié par le département Qualité et Sécurité de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé.
Pour accéder le CTP cliquez ici: https://www.path.org/publications/detail.php?i=2576

PATH’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) tool for cold chain equipment is now available for download and use. The TCO tool is designed to help countries compare and understand the costs associated with the purchase, installation, and ongoing operation of cold chain equipment. The tool currently covers 82 cold chain equipment devices including all 72 PQS (Performance, Quality and Safety) prequalified devices from the E001 (cold rooms and freezer rooms), E003 (refrigerators and freezers), and the long-term passive devices under E004 (cold box and vaccine carriers) categories. Using local country costs such as labor and energy rates, the TCO tool calculates costs for purchasing and operating cold chain equipment over time through multiple views such as: cost over useful life, cost per liter of storage, and recurring operational costs. Additionally, the tool can incorporate facility segmentation requirements to match equipment and country needs. These features not only allow users to understand cost differentials of one technology versus another (absorption gas refrigerator versus solar direct–drive refrigerator), but they also provide the ability to drill down and compare costs on a model by model basis over a user-defined horizon from 1 to 20 years. The TCO tool can be downloaded from PATH via the following link: https://www.path.org/publications/detail.php?i=2576. After downloading, please check back regularly to ensure you have the latest version/updates. A large thank you to all who have contributed to our efforts developing the tool. The total cost of ownership tool for cold chain equipment was made possible with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Please send any questions or comments to Matt Morio mmorio@path.org.

Recently, I was sitting with the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Manager, his senior staff, and technical assistance (TA) partners in an African country, discussing support for better visibility and analysis of immunization supply chain data. The EPI Manager was willing to listen, but wasn’t sure his team needed help in data analysis. As for visibility, that was already being addressed: they using a web-based inventory management system that, among other things, providecold chain volumetric data (total capacity and used capacity). As we discussed plans to deploy the online tool at the district level and in facilities with internet connectivity, I asked if data was also collected on the other, non-EPI commodities that we know are often stored in the cold chain: some lab reagents, certain antiretroviral medicines, oxytocin, insulin, etc. The team seemed surprised by the question; “those aren’t our commodities,” the program logistician explained. True, I replied, but they do frequently take up room in the fridges (even if only in the short-term), so if it isn’t captured as part of inventory, then your volume data won’t give you the true picture of what percentage of capacity is really being used... Read the complete blog post here

Time to rethink cold rooms. Inspired by johns rethinking. A lot has happened since the first vaccine cold rooms were installed. There is much better access to refrigeration technicians. Butchers and many others are using cold rooms, if something goes wrong it is being repaired. There is some kind of old thinking, in the 80s it was difficult finding a refrigeration technician who could repair a cold room. That is not so any longer, now the question, why do we still procure extremely expensive cold rooms with dual refrigeration systems, being supplied with refrigerant and a service kit, even oil which was used with open compressors in the 80s. The butcher call the refrigeration technician, why does MOH not? Cold rooms could be delivered with a spare unit, which can be fitted within an hour. The would also give more room for vaccines. Why not have more split units, have still to see the first, it does not make much sense to heat the room where you have your cold room, in some cases air conditioners are fitted, even worse. I have been checking prices. For the cost of one cold room from supply division 30m3, you can have two 30m3 cold rooms including two spare cooling units. I think it's time to think. Best regards Soren