Global Presence

In 1999, MSH was selected by USAID/Bangladesh to spearhead the Immunization and Other Child Health project (IOCH) in Bangladesh. IOCH focuses on vaccinating children against preventable diseases like polio and measles, and it also works to control childhood killers like acute respiratory infection (ARI) and diarrheal diseases. Additionally, IOCH promotes breastfeeding and Vitamin A supplementation-two simple interventions that prevent a number of childhood health problems. Finally, IOCH emphasizes the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), a strategy for reducing the mortality and morbidity associated with the major causes of childhood illness.

MSH and its IOCH partners, PATH and Johns Hopkins University's Department for International Health, work collaboratively with the Bangladeshi government and other USAID-funded cooperating agencies. IOCH targets underserved and high-risk groups in urban and rural hard-to-reach areas. Its mandate includes:

• Improving coverage rates for the national Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI);
• Assisting in the eradication of polio;
• Improving disease surveillance;
• Improving the performance of health workers and managers in delivering EPI and other child health services in urban areas;
• Improving the capacity to plan, coordinate, and monitor child health services, particularly in the area of immunization in urban areas;
• Strengthening the sustainability of the Government of Bangladesh and NGO immunization programs in urban areas.

In 1999, MSH hired 100 Polio Eradication Facilitators (PEFs) to help improve polio eradication activities in the urban and high-risk/hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh. The PEFs are assisting the City Corporation and municipal health departments with detailed mapping and micro-planning to identify and reach previously unreached children during National Immunization Days (NIDs).

With the help of PEFs, thousands of government employees, NGO workers, and volunteers, MSH and its partners are striving to fully eradicate polio from Bangladesh by the end of 2001. So far, the results are encouraging-29 confirmed cases of polio were reported in 1999 and only one in 2000. The IOCH project will continue to enhance the quality of routine immunization sessions and to improve vaccination coverage in urban, peri-urban, and hard-to-reach rural areas. With its partner organizations, MSH is helping to improve child health and prevent the needless deaths of thousands of children from vaccine-preventable diseases in Bangladesh.