Zuellig Pharma presents eZCooler to increase vaccine access in Vietnam

The ceremony to present eZCooler boxes

The presenting ceremony attracted representatives of the Ministry of Health (MoH), the National Institute for Control of Vaccines and Biologicals (NICVB) and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), and those of the Department of Health from the six northern provinces. This is the next step in the MoH’s project to expand access to vaccines in Vietnam in 2018-2020.

Doan Huu Thien, director of NICVB, said that eZCooler helps ease difficulties in ensuring the quality of vaccines during preservation and transportation to rural and remote areas, thus enabling to expand the Vietnam Expanded Programme on Immunisation.

At the event, eZCooler boxes of three different capacities (from 8 litres to 96 litres) were handed to representatives from the provinces.

Dr Marc Franck, chief executive of Zuellig Pharma Vietnam

“By providing eZCoolers, we are supporting the Vietnam Expanded Programme on Immunisation as the solution helps to deliver vaccines to areas that are geographically difficult to reach and ensures the integrity of the vaccines during transportation. We are pleased to be part of this effort which fulfills our purpose of making quality vaccines more accessible to the unreached population of Vietnam,” said Dr Marc Franck, chief executive of Zuellig Pharma Vietnam.

In order to equip more than 200 local healthcare professionals across the six provinces with knowledge on using the eZCooler effectively, experts from the MoH, NICVB, NIHE, and Zuellig Pharma conducted on-site trainings in the first two weeks of December.

The training also included a section on good storage practices (GSP) which helped trainers to impart industry-standard knowledge on cold chain management to healthcare professionals.

eZCooler is a sophisticated new packaging solution that ensures the integrity of temperature-sensitive products to the last mile of transportation. The solution is designed and manufactured using a single insulation system to maintain a specific pharmaceutical temperature for up to five days, making healthcare more accessible to places across Asia, especially in remote or rural areas.

It is essential that vaccines are stored continuously at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius. Any deviation or interruption in the cold chain from production, storage and transport can potentially damage the integrity of the vaccine, resulting in reduced efficacy and safety in treatment.

Zuellig Pharma was established almost a hundred years ago and has grown to become a $13 billion business with over 13,000 employees. It serves over 350,000 medical facilities in 13 markets in Asia.

Established in Vietnam in 1999, Zuellig Pharma Vietnam has been trying to affirm its brand in the market. Aside from being one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical service providers in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry in Vietnam, Zuellig Pharma also carries out numerous corporate social responsibility activities and works to promote the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam together with the MoH. One of these initiatives includes the above-mentioned project on vaccine supply chain management and quality assurance.

Four provinces trained on eZCooler for storage and transportation of vaccines EZCooler is an ideal solution for the difficulties in vaccine storage and transportation, especially in remote and difficult-to-reach areas with rough terrain.

Zuellig Pharma provides eZCooler training for Vietnam medical staff In order to expand the accessibility of vaccines in Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has approved the project “Enhancing the cold chain storage during vaccine ...

Zuellig Pharma’s wider healthcare cure One of the largest healthcare service groups in Asia, Zuellig Pharma, has been making healthcare more accessible in Vietnam.