Measles vaccine stock steady, nationwide drive moved up to 20 April: Health minister
The government has already launched an emergency vaccination programme from 5 April in 18 high-risk districts identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) to control the outbreak.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said the stock of the measles-rubella vaccine is now stable and nationwide vaccination drive will begin from 20 April.
The government has already launched an emergency vaccination programme from 5 April in 18 high-risk districts identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) to control the outbreak.
"We had earlier announced that the nationwide vaccination programme would start from 3 May; we have brought it forward by two weeks as the government has successfully procured the required vaccines from Unicef. Measles vaccination will begin nationwide from 20 April," the minister said today (8 April) during the 11th sitting of the first session of parliament, in response to a notice submitted by MP Rumeen Farhana.
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The minister further said, "The shortage we have noticed was caused by the previous interim government's lack of attention and the complete failure and mismanagement of the fascist government, which disrupted the orderly functioning of the vaccination system.
"To prevent such situations in the future and ensure full transparency, the current government has taken urgent financial measures. Unused funds amounting to Tk604 crore from the Asian Development Bank's pandemic fund during the Covid period have already been reallocated for the purchase of emergency vaccines, including measles and rubella," he added.
He noted that coordination with development partners, particularly through Unicef, is being strengthened to rapidly restore vaccine supplies. This has allowed the government to move up the nationwide vaccination programme by 15 days. Regarding distribution in high transmission areas, the minister said that 3,483,000 doses of the vaccine have already been delivered and the government has received approximately 2 crore 19 lakh (21.9 million) doses for the measles-rubella campaign through GAVI, the glocal the Vaccine Alliance, ensuring sufficient vaccine availability to control the outbreak with no expected shortages.
He added that the procurement of vaccines worth Tk419 crore through Unicef is in its final stages, with storage and transportation following Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and World Health Organization (WHO) standards to maintain proper cold chain management.
