Evaluation of cold chain applications of family HEALTH centers in Şirnak province and districts

The success of immunization programs depends on the effectiveness of the administered vaccine as well as high vaccine coverage. The existence and operation of the cold chain system in family health centers is of vital importance. It is important for the health personnel working in family health centers to have a well-equipped knowledge of the cold chain for the proper use of existing cold chain materials and for the cold chain to function properly. This research was carried out to evaluate the cold chain practices of family health centers in Şırnak province and districts. Family physician and family health personnels working in family health centers in Şırnak province and districts constituted the universe of the research. In the descriptive study, it was aimed to reach the entire universe by not selecting the sample. The study was conducted with 213 healthcare professionals who volunteered to participate in the study between August and November 2021. In the collection of research data, cold chain questionnaire and cold chain observation form were used. In the evaluation of the data obtained from the research, percentage, frequency, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values were calculated. Significance chi-square test was used to compare independent variables. Ethics committee and institutional permission were obtained to conduct the study. In 78.0% of family health centers, power cuts are frequent enough to cause problems for vaccinations; 87.8% of them did not have a freezing indicator in their refrigerators; It was determined that 53.5% of the health workers did not receive any training on the cold chain. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the health workers' knowledge of the definition of cold chain according to age, gender, occupation and working year in the occupation (p>0.05). A statistically significant difference was determined between the knowledge of the refrigerator storage place of DaBT-IPA-Hib and OPA vaccine according to the age and occupational status of healthcare workers (p>0.05). As a result; there are lack of knowledge and application errors of healthcare professionals about the cold chain. In-service training and seminars on the theory and application principles of cold chain should be planned and these should be repeated periodically. Key words: Cold chain; Family health center; Family health worker.