Freezer will help improve vaccine storage, delivery

EAST New Britain’s health system now has an electronic freezer to improve vaccine storage and delivery in the province.
The freezer was brought in last December and is at the ENB health authority warehouse at Butuwin.
United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) immunisation officer Ahmad Farhad Habib, who is in the province to inspect its cold chain programme, said having a freezer was crucial for keeping vaccines safe and ensuring their potency.
He said the freezer, which has a 30-cubic-metre storage capacity, would be the regional vaccine store for the New Guinea Islands.
Meanwhile, more than 30 health facilities in the province received solar-powered freezers for storing vaccines.
According to the authority’s cold chain and logistic officer Peter Robin, his team distributed the solar freezers to facilities in Kokopo, Rabaul and Gazelle districts.
This week they will travel to Pomio to distribute freezers to Palmalmal Rural Hospital and three other locations.
Major hospitals in the province including Nonga and St Mary’s Vunapope and Kerevat District Hospital will receive freezers as will health centres in the Baining area of Gazelle.
Habib said they had just completed the village health volunteer training for Pomio last month.
He said this was related to the health authority’s capacity building when focusing on the immunisation programme and vaccines.
He said the distribution of freezers had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, difficult terrain and lack of capacity in quality service delivery.