THE guardians are still in confusion, as reported in a local English daily on Saturday last, about the safety and effectiveness of MR vaccination and hence they are hesitant to get their children or wards vaccinated. The report said, the ongoing MR vaccination campaign created confusion among the parents about whether or not the vaccine was time expired and useful to their children and particularly for those who were taking regular doses and also the second booster dose of the anti-measles vaccine.
The first ever-biggest measles- rubella (MR) vaccination campaign began across the country on January 25 with a target of brining about 5.20 crore children between nine months and 15 years age under the programme and it will end on February 13. A total of 67,900 vaccinators and 241,000 volunteers have been designated to immunize the children in 900 fixed immunization sites, besides 170,000 schools and 120,000 community outreach sites.
But the problem arose because of some fatalities resulting from the execution of the vaccine to some children. Panic has gripped the parents following a news item published on Jan 28 in another English daily. The report said two children died allegedly after being administered a dose of the MR vaccine in Jhenaidah and Gazipur respectively. After the incidents, the government set up four probe bodies, one in Gazipur and three in Jhenaidah to investigate the deaths. Moreover, a team with international expertise on vaccination was sent to Gazipur to look into the matter.
The committees were instructed to submit a report within 3 working days, but it is still not clear whether or not they have filed the reports. Hence the confusion became widespread in the public mind about the dose. Questions have also come up about the necessity of MR vaccine for children who had taken a regular dose and the second booster dose of the anti-measles vaccine. Experts held the view that MR vaccination is rather useless as regular vaccination is enough to ensure 85 per cent prevention of diseases like measles-rubella.
In Bangladesh, a child usually takes six doses of vaccines against six childhood diseases, including measles between 1.5 month and 12 months under the Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI). Then the authority should have made it clear earlier who needed the vaccines and who did not.
It is still 12 days left for the MR vaccination programme to come to an end. The authorities concerned must remove the confusion over the vaccine from people’s mind as it has already put a negative impression about the need and the effectiveness of the vaccine. The authority must also clarify the immediate and long-term effect of MR vaccination to remove parents concerns. Moreover, the divisiveness in parents’ mind whether or not it is injurious to their children is not helpful to bring the programme to a successful end. We urge the government to act quickly to remove these misgivings.
