Dear viewers We wish to share the attached revised version vaccine storage code in the new model of Ice Lined Refrigerator, supplied recently to the planning units in Karnataka and India. Karnataka is going to practice soon and we hope the whole country may also follow the same as it is practicable. Keeping ice-packs in brick style practically feasible way is also demonstrated.   With best regards Holla n team KVG Medical College

Within the next ten years access will be extended to immunization for the families of approximately 20% of the world’s new-borns who have never seen the health service. Some will be located in remote areas that suffer from lack of infrastructure, hostile topography and extreme temperatures. Reaching these ‘last mile’ communities with routine immunization and other health services will be hard – perhaps as difficult as reaching the 80% coverage that has already been achieved by most countries. At the heart of the supply chain the vaccine carrier must be able to keep vaccines cool for long periods and be compact enough to be carried by 4w-vehicle or by boat or by motorcycle or carried on foot several kilometers. The traditional choice of vaccine carrier, equipped with frozen icepacks places vaccines at risk of freezing, despite efforts to establish ‘pre-conditioning’. At least two alternative solutions are now in development. First, the design of vaccine carriers is being modified to protect vaccines from freezing and these ‘freeze-free’ will be available soon to gradually replace traditional carriers. A second potential solution is to use ‘PCM’-filled icepacks instead of water-filled icepacks in traditional carriers. A table in the attachment below compares the attributes of PCMs in traditional carriers with those of frozen icepacks used in freeze-free carriers. You are welcome to join the discussion on the relative merits and drawbacks of the two alternative solutions! (NOTE: Please see the attachment!)

Announcing two new publications, part of the Vaccine Management Handbook series: How to monitor temperatures in the vaccine supply chain (WHO/IVB/15.04) http://www.who.int/immunization/documents/financing/who_ivb_15.04 How to use passive containers and coolant-packs for vaccine transport and outreach operations (WHO/IVB/15.03) http://www.who.int/immunization/documents/financing/who_ivb_15.03

Newly-prequalified cold chain equipment is regularly added to the PQS Catalogue. To keep up-to-date with changes to the PQS Catalogue, you can now follow the PQS updates feed on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/pqs_updates

In addition to listing newly-prequalified equipment, the feed also highlights new and updated target product profiles (TPP), as well as PQS news and issues.

The PQS Catalogue provides a detailed list of all immunization-related products currently prequalified by WHO. Individual datasheets for each product can be found in the following categories:


E001 Cold rooms and freezer rooms
E003 Refrigerators and freezers
E004 Cold boxes and vaccine carriers
E005 Coolant-packs
E006 Temperature monitoring devices
E007 Cold chain accessories
E008 Injection devices (for immunization)
E010 Waste management equipment
E013 Injection devices (therapeutic)


The entire PQS Catalogue is also available as a PDF document on the PQS Catalogue website:

http://apps.who.int/immunization_standards/vaccine_quality/pqs_catalogue/index.aspx

This document includes datasheets for every prequalified product, as well as guidance notes to help purchasers make informed choices.

The PQS Catalogue is regularly updated. To report defects affecting any product in the PQS Catalogue, please contact the PQS team (pqsinfo@who.int).