Arakan News Agency
A recent study conducted by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh (icddr,b) revealed significant gaps in vaccination coverage between forcibly displaced Rohingya children and host community children in the Cox’s Bazar region. The study recorded notably higher rates of unvaccinated and under-immunized children within the Rohingya camps.
The study’s results showed that 0.5% of Rohingya children had not received any doses of the pentavalent vaccine, compared to 0.2% of children in the host community. Furthermore, the percentage of under-immunized children who did not receive the third dose was 12.5% among the Rohingya, compared to just 5.8% in neighboring communities. Additionally, the camps recorded a dropout rate from vaccination of 18.3%, compared to 8.9% outside them.
The study was conducted from June 2024 to May 2025 and included all Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, as well as Bhasan Char in Noakhali, and two nearby rural unions. It was carried out in collaboration with Jhpiego and supported by the Ministry of Health and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi).
The study suggested that children’s illnesses were the main reason for missed vaccinations, along with other challenges including limitations imposed by male family members, difficulties in communicating with caregivers, poor data documentation, limited resources, lack of trained personnel, and weak coordination among organizations working in the camps.
The researchers recommended improving communication between healthcare workers and caregivers, enhancing the training of personnel, developing coordination between immunization teams and camp administrations, as well as boosting community participation and adopting a digital data system to improve follow-up mechanisms.
The study results were presented at a seminar held at the Public Health Institute attended by several officials from the Ministry of Health and the Expanded Program on Immunization in Bangladesh.
It is notable that the full vaccination coverage rate for children under one year old in Bangladesh reached 81.6% in 2023, a significant improvement compared to just 2% in 1985.
Bangladesh hosts approximately 1.3 million Rohingya refugees in the “Cox’s Bazar” camps, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee camp in the world. The refugees have been living there under difficult humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017 due to the “genocide” campaign carried out against them by the Myanmar army. Waves of their displacement to Bangladesh have renewed since the outbreak of fighting in Arakan State between the Myanmar army and Arakan Buddhist militias (Arakan Army) in November 2023.
