Colombia. In order to strengthen the actions that seek the adequate collection of the cold chain of the Expanded Program on Immunizations (EPI) and zoonoses, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection with the territorial entities of Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander and Putumayo announced the investment of more than 1,862 million pesos (about US$723,000).
This was announced by José Fernando Valderrama, deputy director of Communicable Diseases, noting that "within the framework of Conpes 123 these investments were made to improve the collection of inputs from the PAI and zoonoses programs that have been working since 2009. In the last three years, investment in the cold network amounts to more than 11.6 billion pesos (about US$4 million)."
He indicated that in that order of ideas, the last acquisition of cold chain equipment was made through agreement 275 of 2011 with the Pan American Health Organization for the conservation of biologicals. "These devices were valued at $2,456 million (about US$962,000) corresponding to 3,012 thermoses, 553 120-volt refrigerators and 120 solar refrigerators."
Valderrama clarified that, of all the thermoses, 900 were destined for the management of rabies vaccine of dogs and cats, while 2,112 thermoses were destined for the management of the PAI vaccine. "It is worth noting that solar refrigerators (120) are for communities located in non-interconnected areas, where it is intended to optimize distribution logistics and in this way, guarantee the availability and opportunity in the application of biologicals to the target population," he said.
