Bangladesh has enough vaccine in stock to tackle pneumonia, Health Minister Sardar Md Shakhawat Hossain said, adding that the government also has the capacity to import more if needed.
He was speaking as chief guest at a discussion marking World Pneumonia Day, organised by the Bangladesh Paediatric Society at Bangladesh Medical University (BMU) in Dhaka on Thursday (12 November). He asked doctors to tell the government precisely what steps are needed to protect children from pneumonia, and said it was ready to provide equipment and every kind of support.
The minister said family unawareness and unhygienic surroundings are among the main causes of pneumonia and other illnesses in children. On hospital visits he had seen several children kept in one bed, and even milk from one child's mouth being fed to another, which he said poses a serious health risk.
To make mothers in villages aware of breastfeeding, child nutrition and hygiene, about 25,000 family welfare visitors will be deployed in the field, the minister said. They will also be given small portable screening machines for breast examinations.
He also set out plans to build early detection of breast and cervical cancer in Bangladesh, drawing on the experience of countries such as Sri Lanka and Germany, so that women who are affected can be brought into treatment quickly.
BMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr F F Siddiqui was special guest, and the session was moderated by Professor Dr Md Atiar Rahman, dean of the faculty of paediatrics. The report is by Sarabangla's Mehedi Hassan Khan.
Photo: Press Information Department / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Sarabangla
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