Part of the Technology Updates series, this fact sheet describes PATH's work on an intradermal adapter, which makes it easier to administer intradermal injections.

Publication date: April 2012

Region: Global

Part of series: Technology Updates

Produced by project Optimize and the vaccine technologies team at PATH, this report: (1) summarizes the clinical evidence supporting the intradermal route for vaccine administration and the devices being developed for this purpose; (2) determines whether intradermal delivery broadly holds promise for vaccine applications for low- and middle-income countries in the future; and (3) begins to prioritize vaccine targets and device strategies that best fit the public health needs in these countries and likely merit further investigation. The document is available as one large file or as four smaller files for easier downloading.

Publication date: August 2009

Region: Global

Part of the Technology Updates series, this fact sheet describes PATH's work on intranasal delivery devices to administer vaccines.

Publication date: October 2011

Region: Global

Part of series: Technology Updates

This guide summarizes considerations for rotavirus vaccine introduction in Eastern European countries eligible for support from the GAVI Alliance.

Publication date: December 2007

Region: Eastern Europe

This brochure describes how advances in vaccine supply chain systems can accelerate the delivery of lifesaving immunizations to people who need them. The document offers recommendations for global policymakers to support countries in building more effective supply chain systems.

Publication date: September 2012

Region: Global

Project Optimize, a collaboration between the World Health Organization and PATH, is helping national immunization programs prepare for the future. This evidence brief describes how project Optimize worked in Vietnam with national, regional, and local partners to help introduce VaxTrak, a software program that allows users at various levels of the health system to track vaccine stock and report monthly immunization activity.

Publication date: October 2012

Region: Asia

The Effective Vaccine Stores Management (EVSM) assessment tool was created to help countries and agencies evaluate critical components of the country’s primary vaccine store. To date, 57 countries have completed the EVSM assessment. This project Optimize report evaluates 42 EVSM assessment spreadsheets.

Publication date: June 2008

Region: Global

Technologies related to the temperature control of vaccines during the distribution process are essential to the cool chain. This project Optimize report provides a landscape analysis of these technologies and their appropriateness for use with vaccines in the developing world.

Publication date: June 2008

Region: Global

This project Optimize landscape analysis identifies trends in the availability of vaccines and novel vaccine delivery technologies that are and will be of relevance to low- and middle-income countries from present through 2025. The document is available as one large file or as three smaller sections for easier downloading.

Publication date: July 2008

Region: Global

Scientists have been working for decades to develop a preventive malaria vaccine. While they have successfully demonstrated that such a vaccine is possible, many challenges continue to impede progress on the road to an effective malaria vaccine. As a result, the Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee to the World Health Organization (WHO), coordinated by the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research, called for a collective effort to explore and address the challenges. This effort resulted in the Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap process.

Publication date: August 2006

Region: Global

Project Optimize and the Tunisian Ministry of Public Health are collaborating to explore new logistics and supply chain solutions that can optimize the vaccine supply chain. This report describes a study that project Optimize commissioned to assess the least-cost, most energy-efficient solution for pharmaceutical stores at the regional and district level.

Author: Lloyd J, McCarney S

Publication date: October 2012

Region: Africa

Part of the Technology Updates series, this fact sheet describes PATH's work, in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, to evaluate and create a microneedle patch that will allow people to self-administer influenza vaccine.

Publication date: April 2012

Region: Global

Part of series: Technology Updates

As part of project Optimize, a five-year human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine demonstration project is under way in Vietnam, Uganda, India, and Peru to generate evidence for government decision-making about successful vaccine delivery strategies to provide HPV vaccine to young adolescent girls. HPV vaccine is a strong candidate for storage and transport in a controlled temperature chain at temperatures higher than the standard 2° to 8°C cold chain storage.

Publication date: September 2010

Region: Global

As part of project Optimize, a five-year human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine demonstration project is under way in Uganda and three other countries to demonstrate how existing health systems can be adapted to successfully provide HPV vaccine to young adolescent girls. HPV vaccine is a strong candidate for storage and transport in a controlled temperature chain at temperatures higher than the standard 2º to 8ºC cold chain storage.

Author: Robertson J, Mugisha E, Kumakech E, LaMontagne D, Janmohamed A, Kristensen D, Seruyange R, Bamwine J, Ssekito G, Newland S

Publication date: April 2010

Region: Global

As part of the project Optimize traveling exhibit, this banner illustrates the concept of integrating vaccines with other health products in streamlined supply chains. It highlights Senegal’s “moving warehouse,” which was introduced to offer a better system of distribution down the chain. Rather than having health facilities collect vaccines and supplies, the moving warehouse delivery teams visit each facility, check inventory, and replenish stock as needed. Each team includes a supervisor and cold chain technician who provide supportive supervision to health care workers and ensure that equipment is operating correctly.

Publication date: April 2013

Region: Global

Part of series: Supply Systems for Today and Tomorrow: Project Optimize traveling exhibit

Part of the Technology Updates series, this fact sheet describes PATH's work on mucosal immunization technologies.

Publication date: May 2012

Region: Global

Part of series: Technology Updates

In consideration of the volatile global economy, the growing costs of airfreight, and the risk associated with diminished air cargo capacity, project Optimize evaluated ocean freight as a potentially secure and economic alternative method to transport vaccines. This document describes the project’s methodology, findings, and recommendations.

Publication date: January 2013

Region: Global

The Op.ti.mize e-newsletter is a quarterly publication that highlights advances and innovations in health care logistics, technologies, and policy. Developed by project Optimize, a World Health Organization and PATH collaboration, this newsletter provides an overview of Optimize’s current activities and areas of focus.

Publication date: 2013

Region: Global

Part of series: E-newsletters

This article, published in Expert Reviews (Expert Rev. Vaccines 8(5), 547-557; May 2009), reviews approaches being used to develop thermostable vaccine formulations that are resistant to damage caused by freezing or excessive heat and could reduce dependence on the cold chain. The article discusses the challenges associated with the implementation of these novel formulations as well as the potential benefits of protecting vaccines from damage caused by breaks in the cold chain.

Author: Chen D, Kristensen D

Publication date: May 2009

Region: Global

Project Optimize is collaborating with the Vietnamese National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on a series of activities designed to assess the opportunities and needs for strengthening the immunization system in Vietnam. This document reports the results of assessments of the vaccine supply chain in Vietnam, completed in March 2010.

Publication date: March 2010

Region: Asia