BD docs urged to create awareness about vaccines

FE Report Experts Wednesday called upon the Bangladeshi physicians to create awareness about various vaccines among people as preventive measures which will help them save money and time. They also said immunisation has proven to be one of the most cost effective interventions in healthcare systems. "There is no dispute anywhere in the world that vaccines are the best investment as they prevent diseases and death. In a country like Bangladesh, where healthcare resources are stretched to the limit, this is even more so," said Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Bangladesh M Azizul Huq. He was speaking at a scientific symposium titled 'Vaccine Summit' at the Celebrity Hall of Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city hosted by GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh Ltd. The objective of the programme was to provide update on vaccination of some diseases preventable by vaccine. Mr Huq said GSK has been providing vaccines to the developing countries at 25 per cent of the cost in the developed countries. He referred to Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates' organisation Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation, popularly known as GAVI, for providing more and more vaccines to the developing world's EPI programme. In Bangladesh there are 11 GSK vaccines out of its total 25 vaccines worldwide. The death rate of children under five years in diarrhoeal diseases is double the rate in malaria.