MDGs in jeopardy without vaccination: GAVI
Unless vaccination and immunisation programmes are properly implemented, two millennium development goals, of reducing child and maternal mortality, would remain unachieved in the country, said Jason Ray, head of Information Service, Global Alliance to Vaccination and Immunisation (GAVI), yesterday.
The goal is to reduce child mortality from 41 per 1,000 live births every year to 31 and maternal deaths from 348 to 144 by 2015, he said.
Ray was talking to The Daily Star after a visit to Sreepur upazila health complex and Daleshwar community clinic in Gazipur district.
The Daleshwar community clinic is supported by GAVI, a Geneva-based organisation giving access to immunisation in 73 poor countries.
Working in Bangladesh since 2001, GAVI began supporting the government by providing immunisation services through community health clinics across the country in recent years.
“We are supporting Bangladesh government for community clinic health services, especially in vaccination programmes to reduce infant mortality rate and provide healthcare services to expecting mothers which will help implement the MDGs,” said Ray.
According to healthcare officials, the 10,479 community clinics across the country, seeking to improve maternal health and reduce infant mortality, did not provide infants with immunisation against vital diseases.
Every week around 50 women and infants receive healthcare and immunisation at the Daleshwar clinic, a service free for everyone, said Hosneara, the clinic's family welfare assistant.
Khadiza Begum, a resident of Daleshwar village who gave birth to a healthy baby last week, said she regularly received healthcare from the clinic during her pregnancy. Yesterday, she returned to the clinic to vaccinate her six-day-old son against measles.
Moreover, the clinic also offers Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the vaccine for tuberculosis; vaccines for diphtheria, pertussis (also known as whooping cough), tetanus, Hepatitis-B and Haemophilus influenzae type-b and oral polio vaccine (OPV) for polio.
Dr Ranjana Kumar, GAVI's senior specialist and programme manager, said GAVI plans to introduce rotarix vaccine in 2013 for Rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children.
According to Ray, GAVI will provide technical and infrastructure assistance to the government for ensuring the implementation of the ongoing vaccination and immunisation project.
GAVI will continue its assistance to the government in the sector until the project is successfully implemented, said William H Roedy, the first envoy to GAVI, while visiting Gazipur.
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