Good design, it is said, should solve problems. Perhaps that is why the best designers occasionally focus their efforts on addressing issues helping the poor, the needy or those hit by natural disasters.

A team from Osaka University, working with famed designer Dr. Kazuo Kawasaki, created the "Vaccine Refrigerator" backpack to facilitate transporting and storing medicine in an emergency. It is the latest in a series of products developed under Kawasaki's Peace-Keeping Design project.

The pack weighs less than 6 kilograms and is designed to take a beating while keeping vaccines and other medicine safe. It can keep dozens of disposable injection kits – also designed by Kasawski's team – at a constant temperature for up to three days. The whole thing is tough enough to be dropped by parachute into disaster or conflict zones.

Presented during the recent Design Tokyo exhibit, the Vaccine Refrigerator is one little step towards a better world thanks to good design.

[via JapanTrends]