The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India on Digitalisation of Vaccine Cold Chain Management, Capacity Building, and Communication Planning.

“With digitalisation of the entire vaccine stock management system and providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures, the inequities in vaccine supply will be addressed by managing constraints of infrastructure, management information systems, and human resources", said Alka Upadhyay, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying.

The vaccine cold chain management process, she added will be monitored with the help of new age technology and artificial intelligence through the Animal vaccine Intelligence Network (AVIN) developed by UNDP.

UNDP Resident Representative Caitlin Wiesen, while signing the MoU, said that amid confluence of frequent zoonotic disease outbreak and climate change, animals and the communities engaged in rearing them are increasingly vulnerable. She added that through this partnership with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, UNDP will support and strengthen India’s first animal vaccine supply chain management system ensuring communities and animals are protected and further mitigating the risks at the human-animal-environment interface.

UNDP and DAHD will jointly work on Strengthening Animal Health with One Health approach at centre. This step will contribute to creation of a digital future via digitalization and remote temperature monitoring of cold chain by UNDP India. This will ensure that vaccines are stored in an adequate temperature of prescribed limit of 2-8 degree Celsius which is important to increase immunization coverage and outreach. Currently, DAHD is supplying FMD (Foot and Mouth diseases) vaccine worth approximately Rs 900 crore this year and aims to cover 50 crore large animals and 20 crore small animals in FMD vaccination programme.