The vaccine express

Vaccination plays an important role in improving the health of people in developing countries. And while delivering these lifesaving vaccines to urban areas in Africa can be a complicated undertaking, it is even more difficult to get them to remote villages. Rural clinics are often not able to index or preserve the supply. If the power goes out, the refrigerated vaccines are spoiled. Western financial aid to make vaccines available to developing countries is a major step in the right direction, but ultimately everything depends on creating an infrastructure to make sure the vaccines get to the people who need them. Enter Blaise Judja-Sato.

“It costs about five times more to reach remote communities than it does to get vaccines to urban centres,” calculated Judja-Sato, a former manager with an American telecommunications company. In 2000 he set up VillageReach, a non-profit organiation to handle the logistical end of distributing vaccines in Mozambique. To help in the effort, Judja-Sato found partners like the Foundation for Community Development, the Children’s Vaccine Program , and Mozambique’s health ministry, the last of which is making the initiative into a successful model of a public/private partnership. Last year the World Bank declared VillageReach the winner of the Development Marketplace competition, which means more money and support will become available. The Bill %amp% Melinda Gates Foundation recently donated a significant amount of money to support VillageReach.

The VillageReach ‘fleet’ – three trucks and a couple of mopeds– has become a familiar sight along the dusty roads from the northern province of Cabo Delgado, where they start their delivery route covering thousands of kilometres. “Think of us as UPS-plus,” Judja-Sato says, referring to the large global courier company. “We ensure timely delivery and we maintain the equipment and train health workers.”

Research indicates that VillageReach increased the level of voluntary immunisation in the participating areas by 40% in its first year. In Mozambique, there are currently 40 health centres serving some 900,000 people. Judja-Sato hopes that other countries will soon adopt the project.

But Judja-Sato is going a step further. He wants to bolster the economic vitality of the local regions. And so he set up VidaGas, which sells propane gas to households, commercial users and the health ministry for powering essential equipment such as refrigerators, sterilisers and lights. The profits from VidaGas are invested in VillageReach’s health programs.

VillageReach, 601 North 34th Street, Seattle, Washington 98103,
United States, telephone +1 206 925 5200, e-mail info@villagereach.org, www.villagereach.org.