Bungoma boosts vaccine access with new cold room and transport truck

Bungoma County recieves a modern vaccine cold room.[Courtesy]

Bungoma County’s health sector has received a major boost following the commissioning of a modern vaccine cold room and a specialised transport truck.

The initiative is expected to improve vaccine storage, distribution and immunisation services across the county.

The facilities, donated by Rotary International through Rotary Club of Bungoma Magharibi and other Rotary Clubs and District partners, were officially handed over at Webuye County Hospital and will help transform the county’s vaccine cold-chain system by reducing logistical challenges and ensuring vaccines remain within the required temperatures from storage to health facilities.

Speaking during the handover, Rotary International District 9215 Governor Saad Rahma said the project was informed by a needs assessment conducted by Rotary Club of Bungoma Magharibi in partnership with Bungoma County Government.

The donations are aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery across the county.  “One of Rotary's core seven areas is Disease Prevention, and this has a dramatic impact on how this is being done.

Health facilities in the area are now guaranteed recommended conditions for storing vaccines, including BCG and polio vaccines, helping to preserve their potency and maximise their shelf life,” Rahman said.

The approximately 73-cubic-meter volume cold room is fitted with a dual condenser system providing a backup mechanism to ensure uninterrupted refrigeration, where one condenser can operate while the other is rested and maintained to ensure the system is effective and reliable for a long time.

Biomedical Engineers and Health workers tasked with operating and maintaining the equipment and immunisation exercises underwent rigorous training and capacity building to ensure smooth handling of the new equipment and vaccines.

DG Rahman said that the initiative was made possible through collaboration among several Rotary clubs and districts, including Rotary Club of Bungoma Magharibi, Rotary Club of Tully, Rotary Club of Sacramento, Rotary Club of Madras Coromandel, Rotary Club of Chennai Sagar and the collaboration with Rotary District 9215, District 7180, District 3250 and District 5180.

 Deputy Director in the Department of Health, Bungoma County, Dr Emma Nyaboke, said although the cold room is located at Webuye County Hospital, it will serve the entire county.

She said the donated vaccine transport truck has the capacity to carry enough vaccines to serve Bungoma for up to three months, significantly reducing the number of trips health officials make to the regional vaccine store in Kakamega.

It comes complete with a cooler ranging 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for vaccine storage, and will help the county reach patients for immunisation services across remote villages.

Previously, Bungoma County relied on a vehicle with limited capacity and cool boxes to collect vaccines from Kakamega, approximately 60 kilometres away. This often required several trips each quarter.

Dr Nyaboke assured Rotary and other partners that the county Government of Bungoma would take responsibility for maintaining the cold room and transport vehicle to guarantee the sustainability of the project.

She hailed the collaboration, saying it would significantly improve immunisation uptake in the county.

"This partnership with Rotary Club will help us reach more children and mothers with life-saving vaccines. It will help to save a lot of lives for us, for our babies, and that is a major goal for us as a county, that we can save the lives of our children who are the future of this county,” she said.

Meanwhile, Eng. Ernest Some, the Assistant Director of Medical Engineering Services at the Ministry of Health and Head of Cold Chain at the National Vaccines and Immunization Programme, commended Rotary for supporting Bungoma with a cold-chain facility designed to meet World Health Organisation standards.

The project is expected to strengthen Bungoma County’s immunisation programme by improving vaccine storage and transportation, reducing logistical costs and ensuring health facilities have timely access to potent vaccines.

For Bungoma, the new cold room and specialised transport truck mark a significant milestone in strengthening the county’s health infrastructure and protecting thousands of children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

He noted that with such intervention, the special vehicle which carries vaccines of up to 3 tons will help reduce cases of children dying due to lack of immunisation.

"Child mortality will be reduced by 20 per cent across the county. We have also brought a cold room which will store up to 1 million doses of vaccines. Bungoma has never had a cold room to store vaccines," he noted.