Mozambique
July 2022 – June 2023
Background
As the Government of Mozambique prepared to receive 20 ultra-cold chain freezers and 10 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Project Last Mile, with funding from USAID and The Coca-Cola Foundation, supported the Mozambique Ministry of Health’s Expanded Program on Immunization team in enhancing the country’s readiness for cold chain equipment.
Project Last Mile leveraged a trusted third-party service provider from The Coca-Cola System to evaluate and repair cold chain equipment across health facilities nationwide. Additionally, Project Last Mile deployed experts from the private sector to train 71 system technicians and healthcare workers in cold chain equipment repair and maintenance, thereby boosting preventative maintenance capacity.
Results
- Cold chain equipment functionality was assessed at 647 health facilities across all 11 provinces, representing 40% of Mozambique’s health facilities.
- Measurable improvement in the technical knowledge of health system workers in five out of six technical capability areas immediately post training.
- Mozambique’s cold chain capacity was expanded to accommodate an extra 1.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses through installation, repair, and maintenance of cold chain equipment.
- Voltage regulators installed by the third-party service provider improved electricity reliability. This allowed health facilities to store and preserve COVID-19 vaccines effectively, maximizing their shelf-life.
- Additional cold chain capacity for 330,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses was created through Project Last Mile’s emergency repair and maintenance response to Cyclone Freddie.
“I would like to express our gratitude for the support provided in the maintenance of the cold chain at all levels.”
– Dr Quinhas Fernandes MD, MPH, Ministry of Health
This information originally appeared in the 2023 Annual Report.