Cold Chain Coordinator Celine Karijo, Drs. Djamiel Koesni- EPI Manager BOG, PAHO Representative Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell, and USA Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Keays
Suriname, June 30, 2022 (PAHO) – Through funds provided by the United States Government (USG), The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) donated equipment to the Bureau of Public Health (BOG) in Suriname to strengthen the cold chain capacity of the National Immunization Program. The handover was done on at the Bureau of Public Health (BOG) office by PAHO/WHO Representative Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell to Dr. Djamiel Koesni- Acting National Immunization Manager, BOG. Also present were the Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy, Mr. Michael Keays, and the national Cold Chain Coordinator Ms. Celine Karijo.
“Ensuring the quality of the vaccines delivered to individuals is an important aspect of the Immunization program and accurate and continuous temperature monitoring is part of this quality assurance. PAHO is pleased to continue its technical cooperation to the National Immunization Program in this way to strengthen the capacity of the cold chain system and to facilitate maintenance of the quality of the COVID-19 and other vaccines in use in Suriname” stated by PAHO/WHO Representative Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell.
The donation by PAHO consisted of 300 Electronic Temperature Loggers, 4 Remote Temperature Monitoring Devices, 15 Digital Laser Thermometers, 150 User Programmable Data Loggers and 4 Cryo-resistant Jackets.
Dr. Djamiel Koesni, the Acting Manager of the National Immunization Program, expressed his gratitude by stating “I would like to give thanks for the support we are receiving and the medical instruments we received, as we can use those tools properly to improve our management and vaccination programs”
This donation was made possible through grant funding to the Pan American Health Organization by the United States Government and with procurement done by PAHO Suriname.
The Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy, Mr. Michael Keays stated that “I feel very good about this as it demonstrates the success of teamwork. We couldn’t do it ourselves, as the US government relies on our implementing partners such as PAHO to provide specific assistance with the details. In addition, this marks a joint effort to strengthen Suriname’s public health care sector, giving me hope for Suriname and the health and well-being of everybody living in or passing through Suriname.”
