Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain on Thursday said that all children in the country will be brought under measles vaccination coverage within the next one week.
He made the remarks while speaking at a programme held at the TB Hospital in Shyamoli in the capital this morning.
The event was organised to hand over GeneXpert cartridges and tuberculosis prevention medicines for children, provided by the United States government, to the National Tuberculosis Control Programme.
According to the minister, 61 percent of the target children have already been vaccinated under the nationwide initiative. He noted that several areas have already achieved their 100 percent target.
Specifically, in the 30 upazilas where the vaccination activities first commenced, no new measles patients are currently being identified.
Addressing the current measles situation, Minister Hossain explained that the suspension of regular measles vaccination for children over the last six years had created a complex scenario.
In response, the government restarted the programme on an emergency basis.
Although the nationwide vaccination campaign was originally scheduled to begin on 5 May, the government brought the date forward by 14 days to 20 April due to the urgency of the situation. The minister assured that there is currently no shortage of vaccines or syringes in the country, and these supplies are being delivered to all centres as quickly as possible.
He further expressed his gratitude to UNICEF, Gavi, the World Bank, and the United States for their cooperation in this vaccination drive.
During the ceremony, the US government gifted Bangladesh 600,000 GeneXpert cartridges and tuberculosis preventive medicines for 11,000 children. The health minister remarked that these supplies would play a crucial role in the country’s mission to eliminate tuberculosis.
The government also said has sufficient capacity to tackle measles and dengue, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said.
He made the remarks at a handover programme at the 250-bed Chest Diseases Hospital in Agargaon, where the United States provided tuberculosis testing kits and medicines for children.
The minister said the health sector had not been properly utilised over the past 17 years despite allocated budgets, which created some artificial shortages.
However, he said the current situation is stable and the government has the capacity to manage both measles and dengue.
“There is no shortage of vaccines or human resources. Within the next few weeks, all children aged between six and 59 months will be brought under vaccination coverage,” he said.
He said it takes time for antibodies to develop in the body and expressed hope that the measles situation will come under control soon.
