The war takes not only lives but also destroys hospital buildings. In the last three months, Russians destroyed three WHO warehouses in Ukraine, and Russian shelling also disrupts health‑system processes that rarely make the news but are essential for medicine to function. One such process is the cold chain, the system for storing and transporting vaccines within a strictly defined temperature range.
Why Temperature Control Became a Problem
Vaccine supply routes in Ukraine have lengthened, the power grid is regularly hit, and power outages have become routine. Under such conditions keeping refrigeration equipment operational is harder than ever. Even a single temperature deviation can render a vaccine ineffective or unusable, and correcting such a mistake retroactively is impossible.
That is why the World Health Organization, together with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and other partners, joined to strengthen Ukraine’s vaccine storage system.
Equipment for District Level
WHO representative in Ukraine, Yarno Khabih, explained that the organization acts on the request of the Ministry of Health and seeks to restore access to essential medical services disrupted by war. According to him, WHO provides technical assistance, coordinates partner efforts, and supports institutional changes needed to strengthen the health system, and the organization is grateful to Sweden for its continued support of this partnership.
Under the initiative, district‑level medical facilities receive five thousand pre‑qualified WHO electronic temperature monitoring devices and data loggers. Additionally, 129 thermo‑containers and vaccine transport containers are supplied to boost regional distribution capacity. A procurement of 29 remote temperature‑control devices for regional refrigeration equipment is also underway.
These devices will allow temperature monitoring at various levels of the national cold‑chain system and directly at service points. The upgrade benefits all regional disease‑control and prevention centers, as well as about five thousand primary care facilities—meaning children across the country who receive vaccinations.
Читайте також:
У Києві відкрили оновлене хірургічне відділення лікарні №8
Training Staff for Failures
Equipment alone does not guarantee vaccine safety without people capable of responding appropriately to emergencies. WHO trains medical staff, deepening their understanding of vaccine distribution routes, vulnerable points during transport, and ways to prevent temperature breaches. Simulation training and workshops have already taken place in Balgorod, Odesa, and Podilsk.
Modernization of “Ukrvaccines”
A separate collaboration focuses on the state enterprise “Ukrvaccines” under the Ministry of Health, responsible for vaccine storage and distribution infrastructure nationwide. WHO and SIDA support the modernization of this enterprise because its operation ensures the continuity of the entire cold chain.
Chair of the “Ukrvaccines” reform commission, Andriy Nagornyi, noted that stable storage conditions for medical products are critically important regardless of external circumstances. He said that modernizing the heating system will improve energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and minimize risks for thermolabile products—another step toward a more reliable logistics infrastructure that guarantees uninterrupted supply of life‑saving medical products to Ukraine’s health system.
Three Directions of the Swedish Initiative
Sweden’s financial support allows the WHO office in Ukraine to work simultaneously on several tasks—strengthening the infectious disease prevention system, ensuring safe donor blood supplies, and enhancing public health measures. These areas remain critically important both during war and in the long term.
Donor blood safety is ensured through access to HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis testing at central blood service facilities. The vaccine cold chain is strengthened by implementing reliable storage and transport protocols that support the national immunization program. The third direction concerns developing institutional capacity in the public health system—through evidence‑based training, improving laboratory standards, strengthening epidemiological surveillance protocols, and fostering leadership at public health centers and blood service institutions.
Читайте також:
Україна отримала нову партію вакцини КПК
