Bangladesh launches nationwide typhoid vaccination drive
Month-long campaign aims to protect children from drug-resistant typhoid as Bangladesh joins regional push for TCV immunization
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh has launched one of South Asia’s largest typhoid vaccination campaigns, targeting more than 50 million children to curb the spread of the waterborne disease and combat growing antibiotic resistance.
The month-long “Typhoid Vaccination Campaign 2025” began on Sunday, offering the Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) free of cost to students from pre-primary to grade nine across the country. Vaccines will be administered in schools and community-level Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) centers until November 13, officials said.
Launching the campaign at Maple Leaf International School in the capital, Director General of Health Services Professor Dr. Md Abu Jafor said children can register online using their birth registration number, while those without one will be vaccinated through special arrangements.
“Typhoid fever is one of Bangladesh’s most severe vaccine-preventable diseases, and children are its biggest victims,” Jafor said. “Drug-resistant typhoid has now become a global concern, but vaccination can reduce infection rates and the misuse of antibiotics.”
According to government data, around 8,000 people die of typhoid each year in Bangladesh, with nearly 70 percent of the deaths among children under 15. The disease, caused by Salmonella Typhi, spreads through contaminated food, water, and poor sanitation.
Jafor said the World Health Organization (WHO)-approved TCV offers long-lasting immunity and can help prevent widespread antibiotic resistance. “The government only uses tested and safe vaccines — not experimental ones,” he added.
Bangladesh joins a growing list of countries, including Pakistan and Nepal, that have integrated the vaccine into their national immunization programs. The TCV contains both protein and sugar components to generate durable protection, and any post-vaccination reactions are mild and temporary, officials said.
The vaccine has also been certified halal by the Saudi Arabia Halal Center, addressing community concerns about religious compliance.
Jafor noted that Bangladesh’s immunization program, launched in 1979, has already helped eradicate polio, control hepatitis B, measles, and rubella, and eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. “Typhoid can also be controlled — and eventually eradicated — through mass vaccination,” he said.
Health authorities expect the new campaign to strengthen Bangladesh’s leadership in regional disease prevention and mark another milestone in the country’s decades-long public health success story.
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