WHO to vaccinate Rohingya refugees against cholera

DHAKA - 8 October 2017: The World Health Organization (WHO) reports 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine are expected to arrive in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh Saturday. A mass vaccination campaign for Rohingya refugees is set to begin Tuesday, October 10, The Voice of America reported.

More than one half million Rohingya refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar since August 25 are at risk of getting cholera. Conditions in the squalid, overcrowded, makeshift settlements in Cox’s Bazar are perfect for an outbreak of this fatal disease. Cholera is spread by contaminated drinking water, unsafe food and poor sanitary conditions.

A spokesman for the World Health Organization, Tarik Jasarevic, said the planned oral vaccination campaign will prevent the worst from happening.

“Target population is 650,000 people. Every individual above the age of one. More than 200 teams, vaccinators and volunteers would carry out the campaign," said Jasarevic. "The second round of the campaign is expected to be held after about two weeks, at the end of the first one.”

Jasarevic said 250,000 children between the ages of one and five will be covered in this second round. He said Bangladeshi communities who are hosting the Rohingya refugees from Rakhine State also will be vaccinated against cholera.