Vaccine storage and stock management practices in Vihiga County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Background

Effective vaccine management is crucial to maintain vaccine potency. To achieve this, elements, such as temperature management, stock management, infrastructure, cold chain equipment and waste management, need to be properly implemented. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the vaccine storage and stock management practices in public health facilities within Vihiga County.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Eighty-six public health facilities were selected and one staff involved in handling vaccines from each facility participated in the study. The study utilised survey questionnaires and observational checklists to collect data.

Results

All facilities visited use standard vaccine requisition forms for ordering and receiving vaccines and physical stock counts are done in all facilities. The majority of immunising healthcare workers knew how to condition icepacks 88.4%; however, 57.0% did not know all the heat-, cold- and light-sensitive vaccines. Status of vaccine equipment, knowledge of healthcare workers and stock management practices were positively associated with vaccine cold chain management at 52.8%.

Conclusion

Knowledge of vaccine handlers and stock management practices should be improved to enhance effective vaccine management. Besides, there is a need for the County Government of Vihiga to purchase sufficient WHO-recommended refrigerators.

KEYWORDS:

• Vaccines
• effective vaccine management
• practices
• Kenya

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper gratefully acknowledge the funding of the Masters of Health Supply Chain Management by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KfW Development Bank and the East African Community Regional Center of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management. In addition, this research would not have been possible without the assistance of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda. The authors also acknowledge healthcare workers for their contribution to facilitating data collection in their Health Facilities. ENW designed the study, collected data and drafted the manuscript. EA, SB and DA participated in the designing of the study and analysis of the data and reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data used in this study are available upon a reasonable request from the first author.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive funding either for data collection or manuscript publication. However, it is prepared from a master’s dissertation that was conducted to fulfil the requirement of a master’s degree in Health Supply Chain Management, in EAC RCE – VIHSCM. This master’s degree was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KfW Development Bank.