Stock of 6 types of vaccines including measles, polio, tuberculosis ends
More than 4 million children are born every year. Nine types of vaccines are given to protect them from 12 diseases. Children receive these vaccines from birth to 15 months of age. However, the stock of 6 types of vaccines has ended. These are measles-rubella, polio, tuberculosis, pneumonia, diphtheria-dhanushta, hepatitis-B. However, the health department has demanded that all these vaccines should be at the field level.
Basically, after the interim government came to power, the Operator Plan-OP of the health department was canceled and the vaccination program was in crisis. Many children in different areas of the country were deprived of vaccination. The vaccination rate had decreased.
Later, a special allocation of thousands of crores of taka was made for all types of vaccines. Out of this, 842 crore taka was kept for vaccination of children alone. It was decided to purchase vaccines through tenders in addition to direct procurement. But due to bureaucratic complications during the interim government, it took a long time to complete that process.
Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health, Professor Dr. Zahid Raihan, said that the vaccines were purchased directly from UNICEF. This decision was changed. It was decided that half would be purchased from UNICEF and the other half through open tender. There were complications at the state level while changing and implementing this decision.
He also said that the decision was taken and it was canceled, there was no alternative. We are suffering the consequences of this. Now plans are being made to see if it can be purchased directly again. If that is possible, then the remaining half of the money can be spent on direct purchase. This vaccine will be in stock. It will be possible to send it to where there is a crisis, he added.
It is worth noting that an outbreak of measles has started across the country. The number of infected people is increasing every day. Deaths are also increasing.
