Digital control of vaccine storage and transportation in Kazakhstan could save up to 500 million tenge annually. By the end of 2026, the cold chain monitoring system is planned to be scaled up to all regions of the country, the Ministry of Health said, according to infohub.kz.
Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova noted that the pilot project was first tested in 2025 in the Karaganda region. The system is being scaled up jointly with Kazakhtelecom.
"About 1.5% of the total volume of vaccines is written off annually due to spoilage and lack of cold chain control, which totals about 400-450 million tenge annually," Alnazarova said at a meeting on digitalization attended by the Prime Minister.
The new mechanism is expected to cover the entire vaccine journey — warehouses, transportation, and medical organizations. More than 3,500 facilities and over 21,000 temperature control points are planned to be integrated into a single system.
During transportation, temperature readings will be monitored en route, and the movement of specialized vehicles will be tracked via GPS. Meanwhile, medical organizations continue to upgrade refrigeration equipment.
The Ministry of Health expects that the unified digital system will enable real-time monitoring of vaccine storage and transportation conditions and reduce the volume of drugs that have to be written off due to temperature violations.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the digital cold chain control system should cover about 800 special vehicles across the country. The Ministry of Health also plans to purchase more than 900 refrigerators, new cold rooms, and freezers for medical organizations. Chief Sanitary Doctor Sarkhat Beisenova reported that data from the equipment will be automatically transmitted to a unified digital platform, allowing for prompt detection of temperature violations.