Health Minister seeks 100% child vaccination

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain has called for ensuring 100 per cent vaccination coverage among children in both rural and urban areas, directing field-level workers to visit households and bring every eligible child under the immunisation programme.

He made the call while addressing a workshop on the findings of the 2026 Joint Independent Review of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) and Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) Surveillance at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The minister stressed the need to eliminate disparities in vaccination coverage between rural and urban areas, saying field workers must go beyond designated vaccination centres to identify unvaccinated children and ensure they receive the necessary doses. He also called for reaching children in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Emphasising vaccine quality, Sakhawat Hossain said the cold-chain system must be properly maintained and regularly monitored to preserve vaccine quality from supply to administration. He also underscored the need to assess vaccine effectiveness and immunity against preventable diseases.

He said the EPI, launched in Bangladesh in 1979, had played a significant role in protecting children from serious diseases. He also acknowledged the contributions of international partners, including Gavi, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), to the programme.

Health Directorate Director General Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas chaired the workshop, while Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Health Dr SM Ziauddin Haider attended as a special guest.

Ziauddin Haider said the government was undertaking healthcare reforms to ensure quality services for both marginalised communities and urban residents. Plans include establishing dedicated primary healthcare units in every union and every urban ward, alongside initiating the recruitment process for another 100,000 community health and wellbeing workers.

He added that evaluating immunisation programmes and disease surveillance findings would help improve the overall quality of healthcare and strengthen accountability.

WHO Bangladesh Deputy Representative Dr Rajesh Norwell and UNICEF Bangladesh Acting Representative Jillian Melsop, among other officials, attended the workshop.

- MaT