In order to support the implementation of the immunization program, the continuous availability of vaccines and vaccination support logistics is required as one of the government's commitments in supporting public health services.

Vaccines are temperature-sensitive products, so their storage and shipment require uninterrupted temperature control from the producer to the end user.

Maintaining vaccine quality requires the knowledge and skills of health workers in managing vaccination logistics. In addition, good vaccine quality can be achieved if all links in the vaccine supply chain can be effectively monitored based on good storage and distribution practices.

Vaccine management and vaccination logistics play an important role in ensuring that the community has access to health services by ensuring the availability of quality vaccination logistics, evenly distributed, in the type and quantity as needed.

For this reason, the Directorate General of Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices of the Indonesian Ministry of Health through the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Management and Services held an activity “Capacity Building for Vaccine Management and Vaccination Support Logistics” on July 30 to August 1, 2024 in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.

This activity is an effort to increase capacity and collaboration between pharmaceutical managers and immunization programs in Southeast Sulawesi Province to ensure the availability and improve the quality of vaccine management and vaccination support logistics.

In her remarks when officially opening the activity, Director of Pharmaceutical Management and Services Agusdini Banun Saptaningsih said that the Ministry of Health has collaborated with UNDP to develop SMILE as an application to support the management of vaccine management and vaccination support logistics, starting from recording distribution, reporting and monitoring and evaluation.

“We have benefited from the SMILE application, including in the process of preparing procurement plans, monitoring distribution to evaluating the utilization of vaccines and vaccination support logistics,” said Agusdini.

With the availability of data on stocks, distribution rates and usage of vaccines and vaccination support logistics at the Provincial Health Office, Regency / City and Puskesmas levels in the SMILE application, the accuracy of procurement planning up to the utilization of vaccines and vaccination logistics can be improved, which in turn can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of budget use.

Through this activity, Agusdini also emphasized that there are things that become a shared responsibility, namely related to the integrated and integrated management of vaccines and vaccination support logistics at the Provincial and Regency / City Health Office Pharmacy Installations, as well as a commitment to recording and reporting vaccination logistics stocks and transactions in real time in the SMILE application and conformity between stock records in the SMILE application and physical stocks stored.