Vacpak is a backpack-mounted vaccine delivery system that enables healthcare workers in remote areas to operate independently, transporting life-saving medicines in remote areas of the world, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Existing vaccine carriers are bulky, hard cases that are not designed to be carried long distances by health workers, putting them at risk of injury. Furthermore, storage containers for the ‘last-mile’ of vaccine delivery in developing countries have remained largely unchanged in recent years. Most common vaccines need to be kept in a temperature range of 2-8˚c to be effective, so finding new ways to keep vaccines cold enables workers to go further and access more children to give them life-saving medicines.

The integrated design of the Vacpak means that the entire process of getting vaccines from A to B has been considered. There are three main compartments in the unit; the personal items area for the carrier’s belongings, the ancillary supplies area for syringes, wipes etc and the cold area for keeping vaccines cold.

Vacpak uses cutting-edge insulation technology to keep as much heat out of the cold area as possible. In addition to this, the Vacpak promotes cold-chain security by design, looking at user interaction with existing vaccine carriers to reduce the amount of time medicine is exposed to ambient temperatures.