A picture showing twelve (12) vials of DTP-HepB-Hib vaccines stored in the vaccine refrigerator at a health facility. All VVMs labels were at usable stage and some were given to children during visit day.
Observation:
During observation it was found that there were two (2) batches of vaccine but the health worker were not aware. One is expiring on Oct 2017 and the other on Apr 2018.
Recommendation:
Health workers were mentored on effective vaccine management and proper stock rotation so as to minimize wastage at service delivery points. Also, they were mentored on proper recording of arrivals and issues on the vaccine ledgers, with all important information such as batch numbers, VVM status, expiry dates etc.
Thanks for sharing the pictures and the observations. It is a shared problem that often when there are several batches of vaccines in one fridge , the HCWs just pick the vaccines randomly and are not aware of the expiry dates.No FEFO! In my set up recording in ledger books is done (but needs improvement) but not for diluent and syringes
ReplyDeleteYes, Kwame. The vaccine ledger indicated clearly that two batches with different expiry dates existed. However, vaccinators were not picking vaccines basing on VVM status or expiry dates.
DeleteThis is a challenge to most facilities, really.