Dear experts, I have two questions for you.
1/ On most of blistered and non blistered medicine monograph, there is written that medicines should be kept in a cool and dry place.
WHO guidance on temperature is well explained. Fine.
It is very hard to find anything around humidity. Except that it should be below 60%.
What about in cooling boxes, freezers, and fridges ? Is there any strict recommendation, since we all know that the strength of a (supply) chain lies in its weakest link (often the last mile). Can you please provide a link on the best guidance ?
2/ WHO has developed a guidance on Good Storing Practices, which is more for central/regional warehousing. It is not ideal but still represent something. Is there any guidance on Good Storing Practices at Point-Of-Care level (pharma cabinets, shelves, fridges, etc.). Can you please provide a link on the best guidance ?
Thanks and best regards,
Pierre de Vasson, MSc, MBA
Feytiat Consulting - Support in Supply Chain for AIDS and Health Programs
We have had a discussion on permitted humidity range for refrigerators that you may want to look at: http://technet-21.org/forums/cold-chain-equipment/8293-keep-vaccine-safety#11817
1. Humidity control. Yes for packed medicines, no for vaccines packed in glass and impervious materials. Our refrigerators are running commonly at high 80s rh and the only worries we have are related to running condensation (labels lost, etc.). But no regulation that we adhere to on humidity and no control mechanisms exist in our equipment either.
2. The best places to look for this material are as follows:
Training for mid-level managers (MLM) > Module 1. Cold chain, vaccines and safe-injection equipment management
www.who.int/immunization/documents/mlm
"Module 1 helps the mid-level manager determine how much vaccine and safe injection equipment is needed to run an immunization programme, how to manage its storage, distribution and replacement, how to monitor the system, and how to respond to changes when a new vaccine is introduced."
EVM Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) > E6-6.1 Storing vaccine and water packs in refrigerators and freezers
http://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/supply_chain/evm/en/index2.html
"Storing vaccine and water packs in refrigerators and freezers"
Agree with John. Humidity is most important for pills (tablets) stored at room temperature +15 ... +25C.
- Page :
- 1
There are no replies made for this post yet.