The WHO has just released a new 'Guidance Note' on vaccine diluents. It is designed to provide guidance on the proper handling of vaccine diluents and their use in reconstitution. The purpose is to enable vaccinators, logisticians and programme managers to understand how diluents should be used with vaccines and the proper conditions for their appropriate storage and stock management. http://www.who.int/immunization/documents/who_ivb_15.08 The Guidance Note takes into account the different requirements of new vaccines introduced since 2000, providing updated guidance on WHO’s recommendations for the safe handling of vaccine diluents and their use in reconstitution. It revises and replaces the WHO Vaccines and Biologicals Update, Volume 34, Proper handling and reconstitution of vaccines avoids programme errors, issued in December 2000, and has been designed to be used in conjunction with the WHO Policy Statement: Multi-dose Vial Policy (MDVP), published in 2014. http://www.who.int/immunization/documents/general/WHO_IVB_14.07

Hello everyone,

My colleagues and I have been developing VaCRO: Vaccine Clinic Reconstitution Optimizer. VaCRO is an Excel based tool that helps clinicians minimize open vial waste while maximizing immunization coverage by using the mathematical models to determine cut-off times for which it is optimal to stop reconstituting vials so vaccines can be preserved for future demand within the current cycle. This approach allows vaccine clinics to improve their immunization coverage without incurring any monetary costs.
We are looking to obtain feedback from VaCRO’s potential users. Please visit:http://pitt.edu/~vacro/to download VaCRO.

Currently, VaCRO is only available for Windows users. I will be adding VaCRO to the Technet Resource Library soon.
Many thanks,

Gian Garcia