South Africa’s health sector currently has a nationwide shortage of a vital vaccine that is used for the prevention of diphtheria as well as a vaccine to prevent tetanus. The shortage not only left parents frustrated, but caused anger and anxiety because their loved one’s overall condition was threatened. The shortfall of vaccine is a..
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ANC government neglected to replenish stockpile of vital vaccine on time, now SA has to cope with nationwide shortage – children’s health conditions are now under threat
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Making vaccines ubiquitous is the key to cracking the cold chain challenge
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Over the years vaccines have prevented countless cases of disease and saved millions of lives. Infectious diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), smallpox, mumps, tetanus and rotavirus used to be common around the world. Today vaccines can prevent them.
Despite this, one in five children in the world aren’t fully protected by even the most basic vaccines. In addition, almost 20 million are at risk of contracting preventable diseases because they are under-vaccinated. As a result about 1.5 million children die every year from diseases that can be prevented by vaccination coverage.
One of the main reasons is that there are many rural areas in the world that don’t have reliable power supplies. Vaccines need to be kept at particular temperatures, usually refrigerated, to remain effective. Cold chain conditions aren’t possible without power. A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain that runs fr
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