Mothers and babies are safer with Sure Chill

Sure Chill’s reliable cooling system is keeping vaccines safe in a Zambian maternity clinic subject to daily power outages.

Off grid and off a dirt track

The Kayosha maternity clinic in Zambia is only 40km from the country’s capital, Lusaka. But it could be in the middle of nowhere – the dirt roads make it difficult to reach the clinic, even by car. And the remote location makes power unreliable at best – they only have access to around eight hours of electricity on a good day. With temperatures up to 40°C, keeping vaccines safe and cool in a conventional medical refrigerator is impossible.

"We didn’t dare open the refrigerator when the power was out"

The midwife at the clinic explained how the regular power outages weren’t just inconvenient, but life threatening. If a child was in urgent need of a vaccine but the power was out, the staff had no choice but to wait. They couldn’t risk opening the refrigerator and ruining their entire stock of vaccines by exposing them to the extreme heat.

Sure Chill keeps cool through any crisis

When a Sure Chill powered vaccine refrigerator arrived at the clinic, everything changed. For the first time, staff had a refrigerator they could rely on to stay cool through any eventuality. With only four hours of power per day, the Sure Chill refrigerator can keep a safe and constant 2 – 8°C whatever the temperature outside. And, crucially, however many times the refrigerator needs to be opened to access vaccines.

Vaccines are now safe and, for the first time, accessible 24/7 on the hottest days and during power outages.

Sure Chill stores extra energy for when it’s needed

The remarkable Sure Chill technology also had another welcome benefit for the maternity clinic. If the refrigerator is powered for more than the required four hours a day, the internal thermal energy store saves that extra power for when it’s needed. Once fully charged, the refrigerator can run for 10 days without power during external temperatures of up to 43°C. For a clinic like Kayosha that can’t rely on regular power, being able to rely on Sure Chill is a life-saver in so many ways.