Campaign begins Sunday: 8.5 lakh children will get Typhoid vaccination in Sylhet
Sylhet Bureau
A month-long vaccination campaign is starting from October 12 to prevent the deadly outbreak of typhoid fever in Bangladesh. Under this initiative, conducted under the EPI program, 853,980 children in Sylhet district will be vaccinated against typhoid for free. 162,522 children will be vaccinated in the Sylhet City Corporation area. The World Health Organization and UNICEF are supporting this program.
This information was shared with journalists at a meeting held at the Nagar Bhaban meeting room on Thursday on the occasion of the typhoid vaccination campaign.
The meeting organized by the Sylhet City Corporation and the District Civil Surgeon's Office was addressed by Sylhet City Corporation Chief Executive Officer Rezai Rafin Sarkar, Health Department Sylhet Director Dr. Md. Anisur Rahman, Assistant Director Dr. Md. Noor Alam Shamim, Sylhet Civil Surgeon Dr. Md. Nasir Uddin, Dr. Janmejoy Dutta, City Corporation Chief Health Officer Dr. Md. Zahidul Islam, UNICEF Bangladesh's Dr. Mirza Fazli Elahi, National EPI Specialist Dr. Navojyoti Das, Dr. Swapnil Sourav Roy, Sylhet Divisional Coordinator of the World Health Organization Dr. Khalid Bin Lutfar, among others.
At the meeting, Sylhet City Corporation Chief Executive Officer Rezai Rafin Sarkar said that the government has taken the initiative to provide free typhoid vaccination to protect children from the preventable infectious disease typhoid fever. This program will be implemented across the country, including Sylhet, from October 12. This initiative must be implemented with the collective efforts of everyone.
It was informed in the meeting that this vaccine approved by the World Health Organization is safe and effective. This government campaign will not only save the lives of children, but will also make a significant contribution to reducing typhoid-related illnesses and mortality in the long term. During this time, all children aged 9 months to 15 years and all students from pre-primary to ninth grade or equivalent will be given 1 dose of typhoid vaccine free of charge. No child can be left out of the vaccination coverage.
The meeting was informed that typhoid is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. It is mainly spread through contaminated water and food. The risk is higher in densely populated areas, slums, low-income communities and where there is a lack of safe water and healthy sanitation. If infected, it causes not only physical complications, but also economic losses and in many cases can even lead to death. Vaccination is the safest way to prevent this disease. If the vaccination program is successfully implemented, typhoid-related deaths in Bangladesh will be reduced to a large extent.
It was informed in the meeting that the registration process for this vaccination is ongoing. Registration will have to be done through the EPI vaccination app. Students will be vaccinated at their respective educational institution-based centers. Those outside educational institutions will be vaccinated at permanent and temporary EPI centers. Those who cannot register will also get vaccinated. Vaccination will be given on a full stomach. However, vaccination cannot be given if the child has a fevreceive
