Staff Correspondent:

A significant number of children in Bangladesh are either not fully vaccinated or have not received any vaccine at all, according to new data presented by government and UNICEF officials.

Thirteen per cent of children under the age of one have not completed their full course of vaccinations, while five per cent have not received a single dose. The gaps are most pronounced in Dhaka district, where the childhood vaccination rate is the lowest in the country.

These findings were revealed at a meeting Dhaka Divisional Office of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), marking the observance of World Immunisation Week 2025.

The event, supported by UNICEF, brought together civil surgeons from 13 districts under the Dhaka Division, DGHS and Directorate General of Family Planning officials, and representatives from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Abdullah Murad, Director of the Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Programme at DGHS, cited several reasons behind the shortfall in immunisation coverage.

“One major issue is the shortage of field-level healthcare personnel. Additionally, occasional disruptions in the supply chain have impacted the consistent delivery of vaccines,” he said.

Despite these challenges, Bangladesh’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has made considerable progress over the decades.

Launched on 7 April, 1979, the programme initially covered less than 2 per cent of children until 1985. That figure has now climbed to 82 per cent. The EPI currently offers 11 types of vaccines.

The most recent evaluation of the EPI was conducted in 2023, and preliminary findings from that assessment were shared at Sunday’s programme.

A fresh assessment of the country’s immunisation status for 2025 is currently underway, with results expected in the coming months.

UNICEF vaccination expert Lee Shanta, presenting the keynote at a meeting on Sunday at the Dhaka Divisional Office of the DGHS, said that 95.2 per cent of children under one year of age receive some form of vaccination. However, only 81.6 per cent receive the full set of vaccines appropriate for their age, including BCG, Pentavalent, OPV, PCV, IPV, and MR.

This means that 5 per cent of children are completely unvaccinated, and another 13 per cent do not receive the full course. In total, 18 per cent of children are missing out on the full benefits of vaccination.

The UNICEF official also provided information on the rate of children getting vaccinated at the village and town levels and at the division and district levels.

According to the data, whereas 84.6 per cent children of villages receive vaccination, the rate is nearly 79 per cent in towns. Barishal division is ahead in ensuring vaccination, with the rate being 89 per cent while the vaccination rate in Dhaka division is the lowest (76.5 per cent) in the country.

District-wise, Bhola has achieved the highest number of children vaccination rate, with 92.2 per cent children receiving the vaccines. In this metric too, Dhaka district (excluding the two city corporations of Dhaka) lags behind with only 67.4 per cent children brought under the vaccination programmes.

The situation at 12 city corporations in terms of ensuring the full set of vaccines for children under one year of age was also highlighted at the event. Rajshahi City Corporation was found to be performing the best here, with a coverage rate of 93.4 per cent while Dhaka South City Corporation performed the worst, with only 73.7 per cent coverage rate.

UNICEF official Lee Shanta said for every US dollar spent in vaccination one gets 25.4 dollars in return. This means unvaccinated children suffer from diseases and recovery from the disease costs that amount of money on average.

Civil surgeons from different districts also spoke at length about their experiences and problems they face at work.

DGHS’ Dhaka division Director Mohammad Jahangir Alam chaired and moderated the event.