Photo: Collected
Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain has said the country has adequate vaccine stocks to tackle pneumonia.
The minister said the government has the capacity to import more vaccines if needed. All necessary steps will be taken to protect children from pneumonia; the government is ready to provide the necessary equipment and all kinds of support.
He said this as chief guest at a discussion organised by the Bangladesh Paediatric Society at Bangladesh Medical University (BMU) in Dhaka today on the occasion of World Pneumonia Day.
BMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr F F Siddiqui was present as special guest. Dean of the Faculty of Paediatrics Professor Dr Md Atiar Rahman moderated the discussion.
The health minister said the Prime Minister’s support will also be sought if needed to tackle pneumonia. In his view, a major cause of various childhood diseases, including pneumonia, is lack of awareness in families and unhygienic surroundings. Owing to various family complications and lack of awareness, children often do not even get the care they need.
The minister said around 25,000 family welfare visitors will be deployed in the field to raise awareness among mothers in rural areas about breastfeeding, child nutrition and hygiene. They will also be given small, portable screening machines for breast examinations.
The health minister also outlined plans to introduce advanced screening to prevent breast and cervical cancer. He said that, drawing on the experience of countries such as Sri Lanka and Germany, a system will be set up in Bangladesh to detect these two cancers at an early stage, so that affected women can be brought under treatment quickly and their chances of recovery improved.
By the numbers
Ittefaq reported on World Pneumonia Day in 2025 that 26,000 children die of pneumonia in the country every year.
Sources
Background sources: Ittefaq, 12 November 2025
