Three cold rooms in Golestan and 2 cold rooms in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad equipped by WHO with financial support of the Government of Canada22 September 2022 – 22 September 2022 – In a visit to Gorgan, Golestan province, representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education participated in a ceremony to officially launch cold room facilities in 2 provinces.
The facilities, comprising 3 cold rooms in Golestan province and another 2 in Kohgiluyeh an Boyer-Ahmad, were equipped by WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, using funds from the Government of Canada under the joint project titled “Developing a sustainable and resilient cold chain to facilitate access to COVID-19 tools” implemented in these 2 underprivileged provinces. The cold rooms were equipped utilizing environmental and ozone-friendly options, including hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) refrigerants (R407 replacing R22).
This joint project was a unique interagency partnership between WHO and UNIDO, which aims to support the Islamic Republic of Iran in responding to COVID-19 through improved vaccine cold chain facilities, offering more equitable access to vaccines for about 2.5 million people living in these provinces.
Launching of the 3 cold rooms of Golestan province during the opening ceremonyAlongside the launching ceremony, a 2-day training workshop to introduce green refrigerants and promote energy-efficient operation and maintenance was conducted on 20 and 21 September by WHO and UNIDO with the support of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The workshop, hosted by Golestan University of Medical Sciences in Gorgan, and funded by the Government of the Netherlands, provided skill-based training focused on strengthening the technical capacities of 20 cold room operators and cold chain managers from 10 provinces of Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as health authorities and related focal points from the health sector.
The result of this joint project will improve the cold chain facilities with environmentally friendly approaches. Experiences from this project, as well as the training workshop, can be adopted in a national scale towards achieving a sustainable and resilient cold chain system in the country.
2-day training on mechanical and electrical aspects of cold rooms conducted by UNIDO, Iran, WHO and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education with the financial support of the Government of the Netherlands