NMS to begin distribution of vaccines to the last mile

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  In line with the Government of Uganda’s commitment to increasing the availability of vaccines and improving cold chain capacity, the Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has launched the ‘Vaccine Last-Mile Delivery’ program, where National Medical Stores (NMS) will deliver vaccines to the lowest health facilities across the country.

Dr Aceng handed to NMS 6 refrigerated land cruisers, motorcycles, and other cold chain equipment as part of a wider effort to support the national immunization services. The launch was held at the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Kampala Thursday.

While NMS delivers essential medicines to the lowest health facilities, vaccines were previously delivered to the district vaccine stores.

However, the new program mandates NMS to deliver vaccines to the ‘last mile’ to improve vaccine coverage in the country.

“We have been involved in the last-mile delivery of other essential medicines since 2012 but the delivery of vaccines had to take a little longer because these are specialized cold chain products,” noted the NMS General Manager Moses Kamabare.

On her part, Minister Aceng urged the district leaders to ensure full optimization of the equipment with proper vaccine management practices.

“We have observed stagnation and coverage drops recently in routine immunization coverage. With the current capacity of the program and in collaboration with district local government, we are determined to move past over 95% coverage for most of the 13 antigens under Routine Immunization,” she said.