Summary
Bangladesh, a lower-middle-income country with a population of 173 million, is a long-term Gavi-supported country now entering the accelerated transition phase, with Gavi funding expected to end by 2026. The EPI, launched in 1979, currently includes seven vaccines to prevent 10 diseases. In recent years, the programme has introduced PCV10, IPV, and began a nationwide HPV vaccination campaign in 2023, with plans to integrate HPV into routine immunization. Bangladesh has achieved and maintained high routine immunization coverage for past several years.
The EPI is integrated under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is integrated from top to bottom with other programmes within primary health care. It is coordinated by the Interagency Coordinating Committee (ICC), with strategic advice from the National Committee for Immunization Practice. The latest National Immunization Strategy (2023–2027) outlines programme priorities and new vaccine introductions. In the past decade, the government generally contributed ~30–50% to the expenditure on routine immunization, with the rest being supported by international development partners.
Vaccination services are provided free of charge via upazila health complexes, rural clinics, and extensive outreach networks. Frontline workers are responsible for vaccine delivery and supervised at district and subdistrict levels. However, challenges remain in reaching children in poor or remote areas.
Bangladesh uses DHIS2 for immunization reporting and has integrated supply chain data. The country is piloting a digital EPI e-Tracker for real-time monitoring. AEFI surveillance is conducted through both facility-based and community-based passive systems.
About NIP Country Case
The NIP country case was part of the WHO APO report Comparative analysis of the national immunization programmes in select ASEAN and SAARC countries: progress and challenges. The study was conducted by the VaxLab team in 2023-2024.
More in the report Chapter 2 (PDF Page 43/154):
https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/380387/9789290620785-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Content Editor: Tianyi Deng
Page Editor: Ruitong Li
