Bangladesh to immunize 33.5 million kids against measles
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- Health workers and volunteers fanned out across Bangladesh on Saturday to immunize an estimated 33.5 million children in what organizers called the world's biggest measles vaccination program.
Some 800,000 workers will visit vaccination centers set up in 100,000 schools and 150,000 clinics and catch hard-to-reach children in shanty towns, remote islands, transport terminals, parks and factories.
Seventy percent of Bangladeshi infants receive measles shots during routine vaccinations.
"The campaign aims to give a second chance to all children, from 9 months to 10 years, to get immunized against measles to control the disease," Health Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said while launching the 20-day program, which lasts through March 16.
The Bangladesh government is coordinating the $33 million campaign in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, World Health Organization, UNICEF, the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the government of Japan.