[Answered] Robust cold chain systems are an investment in India’s future pandemic preparedness. In the light of the statement, discuss the significance and challenges of the cold chain system in India.

A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain comprising refrigerated production, storage and distribution facilities supported by equipment that can constantly maintain the required temperature range. It has applications in the food industry and various other sectors like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical fields.

Significance of the cold chain system:

• In India, close to 20% of temperature-sensitive healthcare products arrive damaged or degraded because of broken or insufficient cold chains. These wastages create cost implications.
• Cold chain management system could support the pharmaceuticals industry in exports and maintain quality standards internationally.
• Nearly half the vaccines distributed around the world go to waste, in large part due to a failure to properly control storage temperatures.
• A robust cold chain system can increase farmers’ income as it will integrate the supply chains for agricultural commodities from their respective production centers to consumption centers. Thereby, it will reduce physical waste and loss of value of perishable commodities.

Challenges:

• Transportation issues: like limited road networks, long traffic, requirement of special airline services etc.
• Electricity shortage: Few Indian states like UP have a power shortage of 11.6% against the all-India average of 2.3% leading to the challenge of maintaining Cold Chain services. Moreover, the high costs of running the back-up generators force pharmaceutical distributors and retailers to cut the power supply to cold chains.
• Lack of supporting infrastructure: The elements of cold chain infrastructure such as pack houses, reefer transport, and ripening chambers are largely missing.
• Poor technology: There is a lack of the latest technology or optimal equipment for temperature monitoring and maintenance systems. e.g., there is no company who has capacity to transport vaccines colder than -25 degrees Celsius.
• Lack of quality orientation and training of personnel in the cold chain management system.

Adapting and localizing best practices from countries across the globe is the need of the hour. For a nation that serves as the worldwide pharmaceutical hub and enjoys massive investor interest, having a solid backbone of cold chain infrastructure is critical.