Health min launches vaccine management resource centre

In an initiative aimed at ensuring high quality and effective drugs supply, the Union Health Ministry on Monday launched a national cold chain and vaccine management resource centre, a move that will help in protecting medicines and increasing their shelf life. At least 27,000 people from across the country will be trained under this programme.

Spelling out the mission of the resource centre, Joint Secretary Rakesh Kumar told Millennium Post that it help in providing technical support for all cold chain and vaccine logistics management initiatives at the national level as per the directives.

“The centre will aid in enhancing the capacity of all staff, including programme managers and policymakers in the country to run an effective and efficient immunization supply chain. It will also ensure the development of a comprehensive and integrated monitoring system across all levels of the immunization supply chain,” the health ministry official said, adding, “it will act as the nodal resource centre for all vaccination supply chain related to research, training, and planning and policy initiatives.”

To improve the skills of healthcare providers, the Centre has established five national skill labs in Delhi and NCR region, on pilot project basis. A skill lab, which consists of five skill cabin comprising of 16 skill stations, will help in imparting 40 key practices on mannequins, simulation exercise, demonstration videos and presentations in a time period of six-day only. The ministry has identified 10 states for establishing skill labs, which include Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, J&K, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The launch of resource centre will give a fillip to ‘Mission Indradhanush’, a pet project of Health Minister JP Nadda, which was launched on December 25 last. The health ministry’s flagship vaccination mission was launched with an aim to cover all those children who are unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B, by the end of the year 2020.