Lodwar- August 6, 2025.(Public Communication and Media Relations)

Following the successful launch of the Vaccibox in June 2025 and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the County Government and Drop Access, a stakeholder forum was held in Lodwar to officially introduce the innovation to development partners and local stakeholders.

The Vaccibox—a solar-powered, IoT-enabled cold storage unit—is designed to improve vaccine and medical supply chains in off-grid and remote areas, significantly strengthening Turkana’s health system delivery capacity.

According to Sarah Akiru, Deputy Director of Policy Planning, M&E and Partnership Coordination at the Department of Health and Sanitation, the intervention indicates that the vast and nomadic people of Turkana will be able to get access to timely immunisation.

“The solarised vacciboxes can be able to retain power for 3 days. This will allow delivery of uninterrupted to immunisation services,” she said.

She also added that Vacciboxes reduce the chances of vaccine wastage over long distances to hard-to-reach areas.

On the other hand, Norah Magero, CEO and Co-Founder of Drop Access, mentioned that through collaboration, the program commits to ensure access to solarised cold chain solutions for vaccines, hence enhancing healthcare systems and service delivery.

The stakeholder forum brought together development actors in healthcare.

Attendees explored how clean energy technologies like Vaccibox can support both immediate health outcomes and long-term climate resilience strategies.

Deputy Director of Veterinary Services Dr Erenius Nakadio acknowledged the support, terming it as an innovative approach that will enhance animal vaccination in remote areas and ensure an increase in livestock vaccination coverage.

With the Vaccibox already deployed in key locations and momentum building around climate-smart health solutions, the Turkana-initiated model is poised to offer lessons for other arid and semi-arid regions across Kenya and beyond.