摘要：Introduction: Cold chain system plays a crucial part in maintaining the potency of the vaccines under the Universal Immunization Programme. Each year full immunization prevents approximately 4 lakh deaths among children under five years of age from vaccine preventable disease in India. Due to accessibility issues among others, cold chain management & immunization related issues are quite common in tribal areas. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted in 8 PHCs located in the tribal areas of Visakhapatnam during April May 2015 to assess the cold chain system. Out of 36 tribal PHCs, 8 were selected using simple random technique. Information about the cold chain at the PHC as well as the outreach session sites was obtained using routine immunization monitoring formats provided by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Results: ILRs and DFs were present and placed properly in all the PHCs with functional thermometer. Frost of > 5 mm was observed in the ILRs in 62.5% of PHCs. At all the session sites (100%), vaccine vials and diluents were placed in a plastic cover (zipper bag). Conditioned ice packs were seen in one session site only. Conclusion: The cold chain management is satisfactory in the tribal areas of Visakhapatnam, although there are certain gaps and issues which can be overcome by regular supervision by the in charge officer & monitoring at the outreach site etc.
