Measles Vaccination Drive Launched for Out-of-School Children
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Authorities are intensifying efforts to identify and vaccinate children who have missed measles doses, aiming to cover all eligible youngsters by May 20. However, reaching children from mobile or homeless families in large urban centers presents a significant challenge, according to sources familiar with the vaccination drive.
Health officials in two sub-districts have reported receiving directives from the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) to locate unvaccinated children. The instructions, issued to civil surgeons, upazila health and family planning officers, municipal medical officers, and chief health officers of city corporations, emphasize the urgency of bringing all missed children into the vaccination program.
A directive dated May 7 from the EPI mandates a rapid convenience monitoring (RCM) approach, requiring officials to visit at least 20 households to identify unvaccinated children and arrange for their immediate vaccination at the nearest health center.
In one sub-district in the southern region, it is estimated that 2 to 3 percent of children have not yet received the measles vaccine as part of the ongoing campaign. House-to-house surveys to find these children commenced on Monday. A World Health Organization (WHO) medical officer working in the headquarters of another southern district reported finding three unvaccinated children after visiting 20 families.
Larger cities generally have a higher number of missed vaccinations, making the children harder to locate. Brigadier General Imrul Kayes Chowdhury, Chief Health Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), stated that volunteers from the Red Crescent Society and staff from the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (IDSHI) are assisting in the search for these children.
To reach vulnerable populations, DNCC has deployed two ambulances specifically for vaccinating children in mobile families. These vehicles are visiting areas like under bridges, near national parks, outside the zoo, and beneath metro station staircases—locations where homeless families with children might be found.
The Health Directorate’s integrated control center reported that the initial target was to vaccinate 18,016,914 children across eight divisions. As of Monday, 17,999,976 children have received the measles vaccine since the campaign began on April 5, leaving 16,938 children yet to be vaccinated.
In the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, six more children died from measles symptoms, with three deaths in Dhaka, two in Chittagong, and one in Mymensingh. During the same period, the health directorate recorded 1,341 new cases of measles symptoms nationwide.
Since March 15, a total of 350 children have reportedly died from measles symptoms. An additional 65 deaths have been confirmed after measles diagnosis, bringing the total number of fatalities related to measles to 415.
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