A brand new cold room facility, enabling the storage of vaccines and drugs requiring refrigeration, was handed over to the Jaffna Regional Director Health Services (RDHS) recently by UNICEF, as part of its ongoing support for the government’s health programmes in the district.

A vital addition, the Cold Room will now enable the storing of stocks of vaccines and medicines in the required temperature conditions (between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius). At the same time, 90 Mopeds were donated to the Regional District Health Services for use by Midwives.

Previously, when the A9 trunk road was open, supplies of vaccines were transported from Colombo by refrigerated trucks and thereafter directly distributed to the hospitals and health centers. This ceased with the closure of the A9, and UNICEF supported vaccine transport via air or sea.

``Apart from the high costs, there was no guarantee of maintaining proper temperature conditions during transport, thus often resulting in the vaccines been spoilt and stocks having to be destroyed,’’ a UNICEF news release said.

Buffer stocks of essential Vaccines such as BCG, DPT, DT, Tetanus Toxide, Oral Polio, Measles, Rubella, Japan Encephalitis, Hepatitis B, and ARV et al can now be stored and maintained in the new Cold Room in Jaffna which has an 18 cubic metre capacity. It is situated at Pannai Health Village in the Regional Medical Store and includes a backup generator.

"We have around 40 hospitals and nine MOH offices in Jaffna district and it is imperative that we store at least three month buffer stocks of drugs and vaccines," says Dr. A. Ketheswaran of the RDHS Jaffna. "Thanks to UNICEF we are now able to do this."

Vaccination is a priority in the Government’s immunization program for children under five years of age and pregnant women, and is being supported over the years by UNICEF. Currently there are approximately 45,780 children under five and more than 9860 pregnant women in the district who receive immunization.

Referring to the donations of 90 mopeds to the RDHS, Dr Ketheswaran said: "In Jaffna, we have poor internal transport facilities within the district. This is especially so in the islands and other remote areas, where road network is affected by lack of maintenance.

``Access to mothers and children become very difficult for our Public Health Midwives (PHM) who provide a range of community based health services through home visits. They cover every household where there are children under five or pregnant mothers and also provide immunization services in remote clinic centers.

``The mopeds, which will replace the bicycle, will greatly enhance quality and effectiveness of their work with a greater community reach," Dr. Ketheswaran emphasized.