Qingdao-based refrigeration equipment manufacturer Aucma Co developed the ultra low temperature storage equipment that was used to transfer Ebola vaccines in Africa where extreme high temperatures and lack of electricity presented serious challenges for storage of vaccines and other medicines. 

Aucma has been making breakthroughs in developing storage equipment that offers increasingly lower temperatures, from minus 86 degrees centigrade to minus 150 degrees centigrade. 

When helping fighting Ebola outbreaks in western Africa, the company transformed its ultra low temperature storage equipment to maintain internal temperatures between minus 60 and minus 80 degrees centigrade for six days amid temperatures as high as 43 degrees centigrade. 

The super vacuum sealing technology was used to make sure the product that goes by the name Arktek to be able to maintain the ultra low temperatures required for preserving Ebola vaccines’ quality. 

Another version of the company’s vaccine storage product maintains internal temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees centigrade for 35 days in high temperatures upwards of 40 degrees centigrade for preserving other types of vaccines. Both types of storage products are easy to transport with suitable size and light weight. 

The introduction of Aucma’s storage equipment improved healthcare services in Africa. After a local health center in Ethiopia started using the vaccine storage products, the inoculation rates of DPT vaccine and measies vaccine reached 97 percent and 90 percent respectively within its precinct. 

As of late, there are more than 1,000 such medicine storage devices are in use in Africa, benefiting 6 million people. It is estimated that in the near future 120 million people will benefit from the use a total of 20,000 such products in the continent.