Md  Samrat Talukdar, Kalia (Narail

For the first time in the country’s history, a national typhoid vaccination campaign has been launched to protect children from the waterborne disease. The month-long campaign aims to bring around five crore (50 million) children aged between 9 months and under 15 years under free typhoid vaccination coverage.

As part of the nationwide program, the campaign was inaugurated at Joka Baka Government Primary School in Kalia Upazila on Sunday by Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer (UHFPO) Dr. Md. Soyaib.

Among others present at the inauguration were RMO of Kalia Upazila Health Complex Dr. Partha Pratim Biswas, MODC Dr. Md. Taj Mallik, MTPPI Nitish Kumar, Upazila Primary Education Officer Md. Shahajan Mia, and Head Teacher of Joka Baka Government Primary School Rita Rani Das.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Md. Soyaib said that a total of 57,957 children in Kalia Upazila will receive the vaccine during the campaign. “For the next ten days, vaccinations will be carried out in schools, followed by another eight days at community clinics,” he added.

He emphasized the importance of raising public awareness to ensure that the typhoid vaccine reaches every child and sought everyone’s cooperation in implementing the campaign successfully.

Despite some initial nervousness among students, they expressed happiness after receiving the vaccine, while parents also expressed relief and satisfaction with the initiative.

This month-long campaign marks a significant milestone in Bangladesh’s healthcare system, as it extends the injectable typhoid vaccine free of cost to millions of children across the country to safeguard them from a preventable yet potentially serious disease.