The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a USD10 million grant under its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility to assist the Maldives to upgrade storage facilities and strengthen the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. The agreement was signed by Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer.
ADB said the Maldives has made significant progress in vaccinating the country against COVID-19. The bank aims to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the ongoing booster and pediatric COVID-19 vaccination as well as routine immunisation. The project will fill gaps in the vaccination system by enhancing vaccine cold storage, delivery, monitoring, and management capacity of the country.
ADB stated the project will construct a central cold storage facility in Hulhumale’ that is climate-resilient and powered by renewable energy, replacing the temporary facility in Male’ City. It comes with adequate space to properly store vaccines, medical supplies, and laboratory equipment. There will be dedicated areas for repairing and maintaining cold chain equipment, managing vaccine waste, and hosting a backup server for national immunisation data.
To improve the distribution of vaccines and medical goods across the Maldives, the project will provide seven speed boats, one each for the regions and one for the Greater Male’ Region, two refrigerated trucks, and two vans for immunisation services in Male’. ADB said its financing will promote the digitalisation of vaccine information management by providing equipment to set up a national health data centre and mobile devices for public health staff collecting data at all health centres. It will help link the national health networks to all islands, atolls, and Male’.
Previously, ADB has provided USD50 million under the Active Response and Expenditure Support Programme, USD1.5 million under the Asian Pacific Disaster Relief Fund, and USD2 million in technical assistance.