DUBAI – What’s new: UPS Healthcare and The UPS Foundation are collaborating with PROMEDEO, an innovative medical supply chain company, and Ideabatic, an award-winning humanitarian organization, to solve critical last-mile cold chain issues in Cameroon. 

From web-based applications to groundbreaking storage solutions, the technologies pioneered to combat COVID-19 are now helping fight life-threatening diseases in difficult-to-access regions around the world. 

Why it matters: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 50% of vaccines are wasted globally every year, in large part due to lack of temperature control across stretched supply chains. 

A quick flash back: In November 2021, UPS hosted the Smart Logistics Challenge series at Expo 2020 Dubai, with the aim of supporting entrepreneurs and driving the healthcare industry forward.

Ideabatic’s SMILE cold storage solution and PROMEDEO’s web-based vaccines management were among the short-listed solutions, and both organizations got to spend time with industry leaders before launching their products within the UPS network.

“Successful vaccine distribution is based on three essential factors: storage, technology and expertise,” said The UPS Foundation Vice President Joe Ruiz.  “Collaborating with Ideabatic and PROMEDEO perfectly complements our efforts to bring critical medical access to some of the largest countries in Africa and foster health equity for communities in need.”

How we’re helping: While the WHO’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) aims to ensure universal access to all relevant vaccines for all people, they need experts to strengthen the supply and delivery of vaccine programmes. UPS is helping bring these innovations to life and evolving them through our work in Africa.

Cameroon has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates on the African continent. To address this inequity, The UPS Foundation:

  • Deployed support to coordinate cold-chain training for the Cameroon ministry of health.
  • Donated the delivery of 1.9 million COVID-19 vaccines throughout the country.
  • Provided a $500,000 grant to UNICEF to help the ministry build capacity to expand vaccine coverage. 

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About UPS

UPS (NYSE: UPS) is one of the world’s largest package delivery companies with 2020 revenue of $84.6 billion, and provides a broad range of integrated logistics solutions for customers in more than 220 countries and territories. The company’s more than 540,000 employees embrace a strategy that is simply stated and powerfully executed: Customer First. People Led. Innovation Driven. UPS is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and supporting the communities we serve around the world. UPS also takes a strong and unwavering stance in support of diversity, equality, and inclusion. The company can be found on the Internet at www.ups.com, with more information at www.pressroom.ups.com and www.investors.ups.com.

Contact:           
Maud Gaspard                                                        
mgaspard@ups.com                                              
Shilpa Johnson
UPS@fourcommunications.com