Health minister orders door-to-door drive to ensure no child misses vaccination
Health workers have been instructed to identify eligible children in every household and neighbourhood, particularly in remote areas, to ensure full immunisation coverage.
TBS Report
14 October, 2026, 05:00 pm
Last modified: 14 October, 2026, 05:08 pm
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Sakhawat Husain today (14 October) directed field-level health workers to visit every household and neighbourhood to identify eligible children and bring them under all vaccination programmes.
He said disparities in vaccination coverage between rural and urban areas must be addressed, with vaccines reaching every child in remote and hard-to-reach areas to ensure full coverage.
The minister made the remarks at a workshop titled "Dissemination of Findings of the Joint Independent Review of EPI and VPD Surveillance in Bangladesh 2026" at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital today.
He said field-level workers should not limit their activities to designated vaccination centres but also visit homes to identify children eligible for vaccination and ensure they receive all of their doses.
Emphasising the need to maintain vaccine quality, Sakhawat Husain said authorities must regularly monitor whether the cold chain system is properly maintained during vaccine storage and transportation.
He also stressed the need to ensure quality at every stage, from vaccine supply to administration, while regularly assessing vaccine effectiveness and the immunity they provide.
The minister said vaccination was essential to protect future generations from infectious diseases and pandemics.
Bangladesh's Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), launched in 1979, has played an important role in protecting children against various serious diseases, he added.
He also acknowledged the contributions of international development partners, including Gavi, Unicef and the World Health Organization (WHO), to the programme.