At 5 billion, PATH’s life-saving labels make vaccines more effective

Sometimes, a simple technical fix – or techno-fix, as the critics like to say – is exactly what’s needed. It’s getting people, organizations and industry to accept the change that can be the biggest complication. Seattle-based PATH recently celebrated a techno-fix milestone – reaching the 5 billion mark for the number of vaccine vials distributed worldwide bearing a life-saving, heat-sensitive label. First developed by the food industry to make sure edibles like frozen fish stayed frozen during transport, when used for immunizations this label is known as the vaccine vial monitor, aka VVM. Most vaccines need to be kept at a precise temperature under refrigeration; VVMs tell health workers operating in harsh conditions and traveling to remote locations if the vaccines remain protected and viable by the time they are administered. All polio vaccines today have VVMs, as do all vaccines qualified by the World Health Organization, but even after 25 years they...