The Health Ministry has been given a boost in their fight against infectious diseases as the Government of Japan has given a grant of US $2.25 million towards supporting the Digital Health for Infectious Diseases Control in the Pacific Island Countries Project and Cold Chain Equipment to boost routine vaccination efforts.
Minister for Health Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu says the project which will begin this month will be implemented over a period of 24-months in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
He says their learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic response have indicated the need for a robust, end-to-end digital information system that can capture all vaccination information, and in particular, routine immunization for children.
Dr. Ratu Atonio says the new Immunization Information System which will make work easier for their staff involved in Fiji’s immunization program in the future, and also guarantee the quality and security of confidential vaccination records they keep.
He says when fully implemented, the system will directly benefit 500 health workers comprising of 445 women and 55 men, at national and divisional levels, as well as the 220 immunization sites around the country.
The Minister adds they have been handed 12 WHO-standard Iced Line Refrigerators where each refrigerator has a storage capacity of 145 litres, new Optimized Refrigerators for 45 on-grid health care facilities to replace suboptimal cold chain equipment, new solar Direct Drive Refrigerators for 81 off-grid health care facilities and a 40 cubic-metre Walk-in Cold Room that was procured and installed at the National Vaccine Store to increase the storage capacity for both routine and COVID-19 vaccines at +2oC to +8oC and 100 Cold Boxes to keep vaccines cold during transportation.
