Pietermaritzburg-based remote temperature monitoring specialist Ikhaya Automation Systems has received accreditation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for its VM1000 vaccine temperature monitoring device, says Ikhaya MD Praba Moonsamy.

“The Ikhaya VM1000 recently qualified under the WHO Performance, Quality, and Safety (PQS) E006/061 standard. This achievement is testimony to the quality and efficacy of our temperature monitoring device. It is also an important step for us to provide United Nations (UN) agencies, nonprofit organisations and various global vaccine providers across the globe with assurance of device stability and reliability in carrying out their various immunisation programmes.”

Ikhaya needs this global standard to be an international player and supplier. The company covers the full range of necessary temperature points to fully service the pharmaceutical industry. It provides products and technology to monitor multiple temperature points remotely using a Web-based solution to show a continuous, compliant cold chain, notes Ikhaya sales and marketing executive Eckart Zollner.

With several vaccines due to roll out soon, some will require ultralow temperatures to keep the vaccine safe. Such temperatures exceed -80 °C and other vaccines in the pipeline will need to be kept at other temperatures such as -20 °C or even 2 °C to 8 °C.

“The temperature of every vaccine - and indeed all temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals - must be kept as advised by the manufacturers during transport and storage to preserve the vaccine’s effectiveness and safety once administered,” Zollner says.

“Our audible real-time alerts, that are also distributed via short-message service (SMS) and email, enable our customers to proactively manage the environmental conditions anywhere along the cold chain from manufacture to distribution. The required interventions on the cooling plant can now be affected before any consequential loss of product occurs,” he adds.

System-generated reports serve as proof for compliance and legal purposes, while the Ikhaya temperature monitoring system offers interactive, linear Web graphs in real-time and in high-resolution detail, delivering instant alerts of any temperature deviations via SMS or email. 

"As a South African developer and manufacturer of real-time temperature and humidity monitoring solutions that are designed to last, our products are benchmarked regularly against local and global competitors. Many of our products achieve a lifespan of more than ten years in the field, backed by service guarantees and stringent service level agreements.

"Our dynamic, experienced team brings innovative ideas and superior support service while our distributors form an international footprint of sales and installations, ready to service the temperature-sensitive industries on a worldwide scale,” says Moonsamy.

Ikhaya was established in 2008 and provides temperature monitoring solutions to the pharmaceuticals, healthcare, cold rooms, fridges, freezers, server rooms, -80 °C ultra-cold freezers and refrigerated transport sectors.