Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Husain has said that the government will not introduce dengue vaccination at this stage.
“This vaccine is being used in only a limited number of countries around the world, including Brazil, Malaysia, Australia, and Thailand. However, it has not yet become a universally accepted vaccine globally. As an LDC (Least Developed Country), we cannot suddenly begin administering the vaccine,” he said.
The minister made these comments while speaking to journalists after a discussion meeting on dengue prevention, treatment, and guidelines at the conference room of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
He said: “God forbid, if even a single adverse incident occurs, the entire blame will fall on us. People will say that we proceeded without proper examination and evaluation.”
The minister added that the issue had been discussed with the prime minister the previous day. “We will communicate with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. We will consult with the international community, and if we receive approval and they consider the vaccine viable, safe, and not harmful, then we will try to move forward appropriately.”
“However, at this moment, we are not going to conduct a vaccination program. Since it is not a universally accepted vaccine, we want to make our position clear to the public,” he said.
