Rangoon, Burma (BBN) - The United Nations has handed over a cold chain facility to Burma for preserving vaccinations.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have handed over a cold chain facility, which can preserve an eight-month supply of six types of vaccinations for all of Burma, officially known as Myanmar, to the country’s health ministry, a UN press statement said.
The $440,000 facility, comprising three cooler rooms and four freezer rooms, provides much-needed storage capacity as the number of health campaigns increases in the wake of May’s devastating Cyclone Nargis.
It will store vaccines for mass campaigns, including polio and measles, as well as those for measles and hepatitis B, according to the statement.
Besides, the UNICEF has pledged to continue assisting victims of the Cyclone Nargis until their lives have been rebuilt.
Over 4,000 schools and 600 health centers were destroyed or damaged by the storm, which separated hundreds of children from their families. The agency is focusing restoring a sense of normalcy for children and stressing the importance of returning to school.
BBN/SI/SI/AD-14August08-12:11AM