FEATURE |
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN |
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STRENGTHENING AFRICA’ S VACCINE COLD CHAIN THROUGH TRACK AND TRACE
The recent SAPICS event,‘ Building safer
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distributors, hospitals and even health insurance providers into a shared platform, enabling verification at multiple points in the supply chain. This approach ensures that |
implemented GS1 standards across its supply chain to digitise clinical and logistics processes. According to the podcast, this resulted in 85 % of products carrying |
necessary. Recent technological innovations highlighted in the podcast, such as GS1 barcodes scannable via Android phones, promise to empower healthcare workers |
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healthcare systems in Africa: Enabling track |
vaccines are properly stored and handled, |
standardised barcodes, reducing errors |
and even patients with instant verification, |
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and trace through collaboration’, highlighted |
and that any deviations in temperature or |
and improving inventory management – a |
further strengthening cold chain oversight. |
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how the adoption of GS1 standards is |
distribution can be quickly detected and |
clear lesson for vaccine storage, where |
The podcast underscored a key principle: |
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transforming pharmaceutical supply chains |
corrected. Similarly, Zambia standardised |
maintaining the correct temperature and |
traceability systems do not function in isolation. |
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across Africa, with direct relevance for |
product identification using GS1, connecting |
preventing mix-ups are crucial. |
Success in safeguarding vaccines depends |
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vaccine cold chain management. |
suppliers to national product catalogues and |
Looking ahead, phased regulatory |
on co-ordinated efforts among manufacturers, |
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Over the past eight years, African |
enabling real-time visibility for healthcare |
frameworks such as SAPRA’ s traceability |
regulators, logistics providers and healthcare |
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regulators, healthcare providers and global |
staff, an essential step in safeguarding the |
guidelines aim to extend serialisation to the |
institutions. As Africa scales up immunisation |
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experts have collaborated to implement |
cold chain for critical medicines including |
primary, secondary and tertiary packaging |
campaigns and modernises its pharmaceutical |
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track and trace systems designed to |
HIV and antimalarial therapies. |
of medicines by 2031. For vaccines, this |
supply chains, these GS1-enabled track and |
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combat falsified medicines and improve |
Private healthcare providers are also |
means each vial can be tracked individually |
trace systems offer a blueprint for a safer, more |
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supply chain efficiencies. These systems |
embracing these digital systems. Netcare, |
throughout the cold chain, ensuring |
responsive, and digitally empowered vaccine |
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are proving crucial for ensuring the integrity |
South Africa’ s largest hospital group, |
accountability and enabling rapid recalls if |
cold chain. |
CLA |
of temperature-sensitive vaccines, from |
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manufacturer to patient. |
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One of the more interesting examples |
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comes from Nigeria, where the national |
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traceability system enabled regulators to |
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recall 100 % of faulty COVID-19 vaccines |
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within one hour. Each vial carried a GTIN and |
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GS1 data matrix barcode, allowing authorities |
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to pinpoint its location across hospitals, |
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clinics and states. Speakers emphasised that |
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such rapid response is only possible when |
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a robust digital infrastructure links product |
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identifiers to real-time databases, illustrating |
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the critical intersection of track and trace |
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with cold chain security. |
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GS1 is a global standards organisation |
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that develops and maintains systems for |
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uniquely identifying products, locations |
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and assets, enabling them to be tracked |
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and traced efficiently across supply chains. |
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Its standards are widely used in retail, |
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healthcare, logistics and other industries. |
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The podcast further showcased how |
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cross-sector collaboration is vital to
maintaining vaccine integrity. Turkey’ s
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Freepik. com |
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system integrates manufacturers, |
The vaccine cold chain exists to protect patients. |
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