Online Report :
A month-long vaccination campaign against cholera for over 6,35,000 Rohingyas and Bangladesh host community began on Monday at the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and nearby areas.
The campaign will be continued till December 14 to reach 139,888 Rohingyas, aged between one and under five years. It will reach 6,35,085 people to protect vulnerable population against the deadly disease amidst increasing number of cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), according to a WHO press release.
A total of 4,95,197 persons, older than one year in the host communities, will also receive the vaccine.
Led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and partners, the campaign aims to reach people who missed some or all previous cholera vaccination opportunities.
“Oral cholera vaccination is the most effective way to protect people and reduce the risk of disease outbreak,” said Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative in Bangladesh.
“Despite the progresses made to ensure access to quality water and sanitation,
this remains an issue of concern: approximately 80pc of host community living near the camps have not been targeted in previous OCV campaigns and the new arrivals of refugees (1,162) are still vulnerable”, Dr Bardan said.
Over 1,450 teams, comprising 4300 volunteers including Community Health Workers (CHW), will be conducting house to house vaccinations. Additionally, 240 supervisors and 68 OCV camp coordinators will support the campaign in the camps, and 15 supervisors and 30 team supervisors for the host community.
A month-long vaccination campaign against cholera for over 6,35,000 Rohingyas and Bangladesh host community began on Monday at the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and nearby areas.
The campaign will be continued till December 14 to reach 139,888 Rohingyas, aged between one and under five years. It will reach 6,35,085 people to protect vulnerable population against the deadly disease amidst increasing number of cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), according to a WHO press release.
A total of 4,95,197 persons, older than one year in the host communities, will also receive the vaccine.
Led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and partners, the campaign aims to reach people who missed some or all previous cholera vaccination opportunities.
“Oral cholera vaccination is the most effective way to protect people and reduce the risk of disease outbreak,” said Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative in Bangladesh.
“Despite the progresses made to ensure access to quality water and sanitation,
this remains an issue of concern: approximately 80pc of host community living near the camps have not been targeted in previous OCV campaigns and the new arrivals of refugees (1,162) are still vulnerable”, Dr Bardan said.
Over 1,450 teams, comprising 4300 volunteers including Community Health Workers (CHW), will be conducting house to house vaccinations. Additionally, 240 supervisors and 68 OCV camp coordinators will support the campaign in the camps, and 15 supervisors and 30 team supervisors for the host community.
