Bangladesh will begin its first-ever national typhoid vaccination campaign tomorrow, October 12, to protect children from typhoid fever. The month-long campaign aims to provide free injectable typhoid vaccines to around 50 million children aged between 9 months and under 15 years, according to a press release issued on Saturday (October 11) by Mahmudul Hasan, Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The campaign will be inaugurated on Sunday at Sir Salimullah Muslim Orphanage, Azimpur, under the title Typhoid Vaccination Campaign 2025. Health and Family Welfare Adviser Noorjahan Begum will attend as the chief guest, while Sharmin S. Murshid, Adviser to the Ministries of Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs, will be present as a special guest.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) announced that even children without birth certificates will be included in the campaign to ensure no one is left behind. This is the first-ever national typhoid vaccination program in the country. The vaccine has been produced by India’s Serum Institute and supplied to Bangladesh through the support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Professor Dr. Md. Sayedur Rahman, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government (in charge of the State Minister for Health), stated that the vaccine is fully safe and approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). It has already been successfully used in eight countries, including Nepal and Pakistan, with no major side effects reported.

According to the Health Ministry, students from pre-primary to class nine will receive the vaccine at schools and madrasas until October 30. After that, children aged 9 months to under 15 years will be vaccinated through door-to-door visits, while NGOs will cover street children in urban areas.

The government aims to vaccinate 49 million children under this campaign. So far, 16.8 million children have already registered, and the registration process is ongoing. Even without a birth certificate, parents can register their children with assistance from local health workers at nearby vaccination centers.

Parents can register online at https://vaxepi.gov.bd/registration/tcv using their child’s 17-digit birth registration number and download the vaccine card immediately after registration.

Dr. Abul Fazal Md. Shahabuddin Khan, Manager of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), said that vaccination will be conducted in schools and madrasas during the first 10 days of the campaign, followed by EPI centers for the next 8 days.

The Health Ministry hopes that this historic initiative will mark a new chapter in Bangladesh’s fight against typhoid, protecting millions of children from a long-neglected but serious disease.