A total of 17 million children across Bangladesh have been vaccinated against typhoid under the ongoing national immunization campaign. The vaccine, offered free of cost, is being administered to all children aged between nine months and fifteen years. The campaign will continue until November 13.
The information was shared on Thursday at a discussion held at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka, jointly organized by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), UNICEF Bangladesh, and the Health Protection Foundation. The event aimed to review the progress and strengthen the nationwide typhoid vaccination campaign.
Speakers at the event highlighted that children between the ages of one month and fifteen years are the most affected by typhoid fever in Bangladesh. According to a 2021 survey, around 8,000 people in the country died from typhoid fever that year, of whom nearly 6,000 were under the age of fifteen. The disease primarily spreads through contaminated water and unhygienic food.
EPI and Surveillance Deputy Director Dr. Mohammad Shahriar Sajjad presented the progress and recommended measures to enhance the effectiveness of the vaccination program. Officials reiterated that the Bangladesh government places utmost importance on immunization, which has earned global recognition for its role in ensuring universal health coverage.
Under the “Typhoid Vaccination Campaign 2025,” the government is providing the Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) free of charge to all children in the targeted age group. The campaign covers students from madrassas, primary and secondary schools, as well as children enrolled in playgroups, kindergartens, and classes up to the ninth grade or equivalent. It also includes out-of-school children aged nine months to under fifteen years, with a goal of vaccinating approximately 49 million children with a single dose of TCV.
The nationwide campaign commenced on October 12.
The event’s chief guest was Dr. Md. Sayedur Rahman, Special Assistant Professor at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The session was chaired by Md. Saidur Rahman, Secretary of the Health Services Division. Special guests included Professor Dr. Md. Abu Zafar, Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), and Dipika Sharma, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh.
