TANZANIA’S immunisation drive has received a boost, thanks to over 11bn/- support extended to strengthen cold chain equipment in ensuring vaccines are safely stored thus enhance preventative care in the country.
The support includes 390 refrigerators worth about 3.3bn/- extended by the government of Japan, six cold rooms from Vodacom Tanzania Foundation and Vodacom Group (over 600m/-) and the renovation of the Immunisation and Vaccine Development (IVD) office building (2.5bn/-) by Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) Tanzania.
Minister for Health, Ms Ummy Mwalimu revealed this during separate events to handover cold chain equipment in support of the country’s immunisation and vaccines development programme held in Dar es Salaam, yesterday.
According to her, the support further strengthens the country’s prevention services as among core objectives of the ministry of health in ensuring a society that is free from diseases for the wellbeing of the citizens.
“Studies indicate a dollar investment in vaccines can help save between 20 dollars to 44 dollars, which could have been used in procurement of medicines and medical personnel among others,” said Ms Mwalimu.
She cited the case of Covid-19, where people had to spend millions on treatment before the introduction of vaccines, noting that the case has changed after inoculation and seeing no people in hospitals.
The minister added that “Vaccination was the only safest, simple and sustainable way which helps the prevention of disease among people, especially children…this is why vaccines are the government’s key priority.”
She urged parents and guardians to ensure newborns and all children required to receive vaccination to appear in the health facilities as per the schedules, cautioning them against evading from sending their young for vaccines after the age of nine months.
“The government is committed to continue investing and strengthen the country’s immunisation programme through internal sources of funding,” noted the minister.
She added that “The government eyes to procure state-of-the- art refrigerators with a remote temperature monitoring at its facilities…in arriving at the goal of the 5,822 need refrigerators a total of 2,012 refrigerators have been procured, while efforts to procure the remaining 3,810 was underway in collaboration with UNICEF.”
Ambassador of Japan to Tanzania, Mr Yasushi Misawa said the 390 refrigerators have been distributed in various regions in the mainland and Zanzibar and build the capacity of the equipment as well as deployment of vaccines.
The regions include Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Lindi, Mtwara, Shinyanga, Simiyu, Singida, Dodoma, Katavi, Rukwa, Tabora, Kigoma, Songwe and Zanzibar.
“I am confident that the support will help to facilitate storage of vaccines in the country and improve the entire chain in the deployment of vaccines,” said Ambassador Misawa.
Vodacom Tanzania Finance Director, Ms Hilda Bujiku who was representing their Managing Director Philip Besiimire noted that five cold rooms have been installed at the Immunisation and Vaccine Development (IVD) office and one in Zanzibar, expressing the company’s commitment in accelerating the achievement of the SDGs by leveraging partnerships in areas of health, education, agriculture and financial inclusion.
“We are pleased to be able to once again work closely with the Ministry of Health to support the national immunization programme. The cold-chain equipment installed here in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar will assist the government with the storage and distribution of life-saving vaccines, including those used for child immunisations,” said Ms Bujiku.
UNICEF’s Country Representative, Ms Shalini Bahuguna expressed gratitude to the government of Japan and the Embassy of Japan for their crucial support.
“Thanks to their assistance, UNICEF was able to procure, distribute, install and commission 390 cold-chain equipment for 18 regional, 130 district vaccine stores and 240 dispensaries.
“UNICEF further trained 125 technicians (103 males and 22 females) on preventive maintenance and repair of the equipment and 5,012 health care workers on the operation, routine maintenance and troubleshooting, she stated.
For her part, the Chief Medical Officer Prof Tumaini Nagu observed that through the support the country’s capacity in storage and distribution of vaccines has been strengthened in terms of space and standard.