Speakers at an advocacy meeting
here Tuesday underscored the need for collective efforts of all
concerned to make the forthcoming National Immunization Day
(NID)-2013 and measles-rubella vaccination campaign-2014 a total
success.
They said the government officially launched measles-rubella
(MR) vaccine last year as part of its routine immunisation
programme to prevent rubella infections that can cause ‘severe’
birth defects.
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) organized the city level
advocacy meeting at the city bhaban conference hall where
officials of Department of Health and Department of Family
Planning and other government and non- government officials,
attended.
Mayor Mosaddeque Hossain Bulbul addressed the meeting as the
chief guest with Ward Councilor Abu Bakker Kinu in the chair.
RCC Chief Executive Officer Ajahar Ali, Civil Surgeon Dr
Shahidul Islam, Deputy Director of Department of Primary
Education Syed Nazim Uddin, District Primary Education Officer
Nafisa Begum, Deputy Director of Department of Family Planning Dr
Amir Hossain and RCC Chief Health Officer Dr Anzuman Ara Begum
spoke on the occasion.
During his concept paper presentation, Dr Emdadul Haque
Chowdhury, EPI Divisional Coordinator of WHO, said rubella is a
mild disease in children, but if a pregnant woman gets infected
in the first three months, it can have severe effects on the
unborn child.
Dr Emdad told the meeting that the effects of rubella on an
unborn child could be ‘deadly’, “but once immunised, the vaccine
gives life-long protection.”
Although no study has been conducted in Bangladesh, he said
the pediatricians were seen saying that a lot of children born
with severe deafness, blindness and heart defects or mental
retardation had links with rubella infections of their mother
during the first three months of pregnancy.
He said extensive vaccine campaigns and effective
surveillance have brought down the number of measles cases in
Bangladesh, but rubella cases soared. “We cannot put our finger
on the reason, but its effect is devastating.”
Mayor Bulbul appealed to all to bring their kids to the
immunisation centres on December 21 on the occasion of NID and
Measles-rubella vaccination campaign- 2014 which will be held
from January 25 to February 13, 2014.
He called upon the journalists of both print and electronic
media for launching awareness campaign among people to make the
vaccination programme a total success. -BSS, Rajshahi
