Vaccine preservation problems in remote areas

(Baonghean) -In remote communes, vaccine transportation and preservation are still facing many difficulties.

The "Path" of Vaccines

One of the important factors to control and minimize the risk of death and limit the risk of complications for vaccine users is that vaccines must be stored in the best temperature conditions, appropriate for each type. The storage and transportation of vaccines in Nghe An is currently in compliance with the regulations issued by the Ministry of Health and the Expanded Immunization Project (EPI), the latest being Circular No. 12/2014/TT-BYT dated March 20, 2014 of the Ministry of Health on Guidelines for the management and use of vaccines in vaccination.

Health sector leaders inspect vaccine preservation in Anh Son district

Mr. Thai Sy Than, an officer in charge of expanded immunization, Nghe An Province Preventive Medicine Center, said: Every two months, the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Ministry of Health will send an official dispatch to the province to notify the number of vaccines to be provided after having made preliminary calculations about the province's needs.

After receiving this notice, Nghe An Health Department will review and respond to adjust the number of vaccines to meet actual requirements. The vaccines will be transported by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology by refrigerated trucks to the cold storage system of the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine for preservation, each batch is 252,000 doses.

Every month, the Health Centers of districts, cities and towns will send cars with specialized cold boxes to pick up vaccines at the Provincial Preventive Medicine Center. The cold boxes all have specialized equipment to ensure that the vaccines are kept at a temperature of +2 to +8 degrees Celsius during transportation. And at the Health Center of each district, city and town, there are 1-2 specialized refrigerators to preserve vaccines.

Units receive vaccines from the cold storage of the Provincial Center for Disease Control.

Before the scheduled vaccination date of the expanded immunization program, commune, ward and town health stations will receive vaccines at the district health center. Depending on how far the commune health station is from the health center, health workers can come to receive vaccines 1 day or 1 session in advance. The tools used to preserve and transport vaccines from the district to the commune are vaccine containers provided by the expanded immunization program.

Previously, health centers allowed health stations to get vaccines a few days before the scheduled vaccination date. However, after a series of incidents, the distribution of vaccines to communes was tightened. Most commune, ward and town health stations have been provided with refrigerators to preserve vaccines. However, it must be said that transportation and preservation are still facing many difficulties, especially in remote communes.

Difficult to transport and preserve

When vaccination accidents occur, many people question: The vaccine source is not a problem, the vaccination process is guaranteed, so is the cause due to poor vaccine transportation and storage leading to unfortunate complications? For example, rural areas do not have enough modern facilities for storage, frequent power outages affect strict temperature requirements, affecting the quality and safety of the vaccines.

A study of some remote areas shows that these concerns are well-founded... At My Ly Commune Health Station (a remote commune in Ky Son district), the power grid has only been brought in a few days ago. Staff at My Ly Commune Health Station are struggling to connect the power grid to a specialized refrigerator for preserving vaccines. Previously, the station's vaccine refrigerator ran on solar power. Since 2012, the station has moved to a new headquarters without a solar power system, so the refrigerator is not working.

Vaccine containers to difficult areas.

Head of My Ly Commune Health Station, Vi Van Thang, decided: “Due to the difficult travel, one day before the vaccination day, the station sent staff to the district center to receive the vaccine. The vaccine is transported and preserved in specialized thermos. During the preservation process waiting for vaccination at the station, medical staff will continuously pay attention to adding ice, ensuring the temperature of the vaccine thermos is in accordance with regulations.

Before 2014, the station still sent staff to bring vaccines to individual villages for injection. Transporting ice and vaccines was quite complicated. Since 2014, vaccinations for children have been concentrated at the station, making it easier to ensure that the doses of vaccines are not damaged and to prevent shock. However, a new problem has arisen: People do not follow the vaccination schedule for children, so the number of vaccines that are not injected on the right day must be discarded. The excess number of vaccines cannot be brought to the district health center for return because the station lacks funds.

Doctor Luong Van Son, Deputy Director of Ky Son District Medical Center, said: The biggest difficulty in transporting and preserving vaccines in Ky Son is traffic. Many commune health stations have storage cabinets but do not have electricity. Vaccines received are often injected immediately. If a sick child is found to be ineligible for vaccination after screening, the dose of vaccine must be discarded and the child who wants to be vaccinated must wait until the following month. Another difficulty is that the program's funding for transportation and preservation is quite limited. On average, each health station in remote areas is supported with 100,000 VND/month for transporting and preserving vaccines. Meanwhile, the actual cost that health workers spend is many times more...

Doctor Nguyen Xuan Hong checks vaccine preservation at the health station in Thach Giam commune, Tuong Duong district.

Doctor Le Quang Trung, Deputy Director of Que Phong District Medical Center, said: Every time they climb mountains and wade through streams to vaccinate in remote villages such as Mong village in Tri Le commune, Huoi May village, Cam Muon commune, grassroots medical staff have a hard time transporting ice, vaccine flasks, and first aid kits. Overcoming all difficulties, station staff still have to find ways to preserve vaccines according to regulations to avoid unfortunate incidents...

Mr. Thai Sy Than affirmed: Currently, the province has implemented projects to bring electricity to remote areas; the health sector has equipped, replaced, and repaired vaccine refrigerators for more than 200 commune, ward, and town health stations. At the same time, training courses have been opened for health workers to carry out vaccination work, on average, each vaccination worker is trained once every 3 years...

Thanh Son