The Government of Bangladesh recently conducted Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) and Vitamin A Supplementation campaigns in Teknaf, Ukhiya and Naikhongchhari sub-districts, along the Myanmar border. The national Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) conducted these campaigns with the technical guidance from WHO and in collaboration with different government ministries and development partners.
Although Bangladesh is maintaining polio free status since 2006 and boasts a high polio vaccination coverage, there was an influx of refugees in the late 2016 in two sub-districts, Teknaf and Ukhiya (Cox’s Bazar district) that border Myanmar. Also in the recent past, two circulating vaccine derived polio cases (cVDPVs) were reported across Myanmar that created public health concern in both countries. In response, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) conducted two rounds of supplementary immunization in synchronization with Myanmar in January and February 2016, with trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV). However, considering the risk, the government decided to conduct another immunization campaign with bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) in these areas. This campaign was tagged with a Vitamin A plus campaign scheduled at the same time.
During the campaign, special attention was paid to hard-to-reach and high-risk areas/populations, refugee camps and populations on the move. Health workers, volunteers, and supervisors were trained and engaged to spread the word about the bOPV and Vitamin A supplementation campaigns. Advocacy meetings were held involving religious leaders, local elites, and school teachers for community mobilization. Announcements were made from local mosques and temples to inform the communities about the dates, services, and target age group for immunization. The number of children targeted for bOPV supplementation was 118,272 and of those, 98% were vaccinated. Ninety seven percent of the more than 14,000 children targeted (aged 6-11 months) for Vitamin A supplementation were reached, while also reaching around 100% of children aged 12 to 59 months.