An international group on vaccine provision will send 900,000 Oral Cholera Vaccines or OCVs to prevent water-borne diseases from spreading in Rohingyas camps in Cox's Bazar.


The International Coordinating Group (ICG) decided to release the vaccines from the global stockpile within 24 hours of getting a request from the Bangladesh government on Wednesday, World Health Organization or WHO said on Friday.

UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) also coordinated the mechanism in releasing the medicine along with WHO, the global health agency said in a statement.

ICG partners with support from the vaccine alliance Gavi will deliver the OCV doses to Bangladesh within two weeks for an immunisation campaign due to start in October, the statement said.

“We appreciate the support and speed of partners in delivering on this urgent request, and we look forward to receiving and using the vaccines,” it quoted Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of Health Services of Bangladesh, as saying.

“We are doing everything we can to prevent an outbreak, including pre-positioning supplies, implementing disease surveillance and monitoring water quality,” said Navaratnasamy Paranietharan, WHO Representative in Bangladesh.

“A vaccination campaign will help to keep this vulnerable population safe from cholera,” he added.

Over 500,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have taken shelter in Bangladesh since Aug 25 following the violence in Rakhine State. More than half the newly arrived population are children.

The crises of drinkable water and sanitation amid heavy rains have raised the risk of spread of water-borne diseases like cholera in the muddy makeshift camps in southeastern border of Bangladesh.

_{Source: bdnews24.com}