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Cuba: The health cold chain contributes to life saving vaccination

Since 2021, Cuba has renewed its cold chain equipment at around 70 percent of its vaccination sites and acquired a cold storage chamber.

From 26 April to 3 May 2025, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), together with the countries and territories of the Region of the Americas and its partners, celebrated the 23rd annual Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) and the 14th World Immunization Week (WIW).  Between 2021 and 2030, PAHO estimates that vaccines will avert 3.6 million deaths in the Americas [1].

 

Refrigeration is pivotal role in the safekeeping of vaccines [2], contributing to the eradication of poliomyelitis and the roll-back of measles in the Americas [1]. The polio vaccine is highly heat-sensitive and must be kept frozen for long-term storage, while the measles vaccine must be refrigerated within a recommended temperature range of 2 °C–8 °C [3].

 

The city of Havana, Cuba, has one of the highest vaccination rates in the Americas [4]. With the support of several UN agencies including UNICEF and PAHO, as well as funding from the governments of Canada, Japan and other donors, Cuba has been able to update its health cold chain network.

Cuba currently has 1,065 refrigerators prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1,000 1.5-litrer vaccine transport coolers, 4,000 cold packs to maintain the appropriate temperature during transport and storage, and nearly 2,000 temperature monitors with internal or external sensors [4].

A PAHO-Canada project also included the installation of a cold storage chamber at the Aerovaradero terminal of the “José Martí” International Airport in Havana, with a storage volume of 63 cubic meters, ensuring the safe storage of all vaccines entering the country.

 

 

Find out more about the impact of refrigeration on health as well as other global challenges related to food security, energy efficiency, and climate change.
Download the 3rd edition of IIR technical on The role of refrigeration in global economy.

 

 

Sources

[1] Vaccination Week in the Americas 2025 – Fact sheet. https://www.paho.org/en/documents/vaccination-week-americas-2025-fact-sheet

[2] Baha M., Hammami S., Dupont J.-L. The role of refrigeration in global economy. 3rd edition.   60th Technical Brief on Refrigeration Technologies. International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.18462/iir.TechBrief.04.2025

[3] World Health Organization, WHO, World Health Organization. Measles vaccines: WHO position paper, April 2017 - – Recommendations. Vaccine 2017;37:205–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.07.066

[4] https://www.paho.org/en/stories/cuba-strengthening-cold-chain-safe-vaccination