Managing cold chain equipment is getting easier

Managing cold chain equipment is getting easierby Sophie Newland, David Lubinski, and John Lloyd, PATH Introducing newer, bulkier vaccines into a national immunization schedule can be a tricky job for logisticians. Is there enough space? Is there enough equipment? Is it in the right location? Is the equipment functioning properly? All immunization programs depend on reliable and sufficient refrigeration equipment to cool vaccines during transport and storage. But managing that information can be a daunting task. In an effort to help countries more accurately establish and maintain cold chain equipment inventories and forecast future equipment needs, PATH and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) collaborated in 2008 to create a software tool called Cold Chain Equipment Manager (CCEM). CCEM is a free, fast, accurate and easy-to-use Microsoft Access-based package designed to help countries create a comprehensive inventory of cold chain equipment and forecast future cold chain equipment needs according to planned changes in vaccines, schedules, and the target population. A new version of the CCEM software tool, developed by PATH, is scheduled for release in January 2010. The focus of the latest development is to make the application even easier to use and speed the process of creating reports and forecasts. To update the tool, PATH partnered with iLink Systems, a professional software engineering firm, to apply best practices in user-driven software design. Critical priorities addressed in version 2.1 will allow users to: View key performance indicators across geographic regions and drill down for deeper analysis.Forecast future equipment needs for each year of a multiyear plan, considering changes in vaccines and vaccine schedules, growth in target populations, and removal and allocation of equipment according to national policies.Easy comparison of overall capital and running costs of differentforecast scenarios according to different assumptions on the future plans.The goal of the CCEM tool remains the same: to help managers quickly and accurately forecast costs of equipment needed for multiyear national immunization plans. As more vaccines become available and affordable to low- and middle-income countries, the need to accurately plan, manage, and track cold chain equipment is increasingly critical. This tool helps countries anticipate needs and monitor performance with minimal effort. The new version of the CCEM tool and related documents are scheduled to be tested in Kenya in January 2010 and will be available soon thereafter for download in English, French, and Spanish from the PATH website at www.path.org/projects/cold-chain-ccem.php. To obtain a cd containing all CCEM materials, please email [[email protected]][email protected][/email].