Topic: 2025 – Vaccine Access and Distribution
Country: Bangladesh
Delegate Name: Olivia Beard
WHO
Vaccine Access and Distribution
Bangladesh
Olivia Beard, Forest Hills Northern High School
Ensuring equitable access to vaccines remains a vital global health priority, and Bangladesh recognizes that strengthening vaccine distribution systems is essential to achieving universal health coverage and protecting vulnerable populations.Vaccine access and distribution refers to the logistics and processes involved in delivering vaccines to populations, ensuring that they are accessible and administered. Over the past 2 decades, there has been significant progress made. They have not experienced a polio case since 2006, maternal and neonatal tetanus was eliminated in 2008, the rubella control goal was achieved in 2018, and many other vaccinations have been introduced over the past 20 years, with the help of the WHO and other organizations such as Gavi, CDC, and UNICEF. Since 1979, the child immunization rate has gone from just 2% to 81.6%. Though these major improvements have been made, there are still 400,000 children who are under-immunized, and 70,000 who have never received a vaccine before.
Bangladesh has made significant progress in making vaccinations more accessible. Though they have made substantial improvements by increasing vaccination rates, Bangladesh continues to encounter issues in distributing and reaching rural towns. Since the launch of the EPI in 1979, there are now over 5 million children every year who avoid disease because of the vaccinations, delivering a $25 return for every US Dollar invested in the immunization programs. Bangladesh has also used international partnerships and diplomacy to advance access to vaccinations, such as securing funding for its immunization program from organizations such as World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. They are also preparing to begin vaccinating their people, with newer vaccines from other countries, for example, they received funding from international partners to provide the Japanese encephalitis vaccine. The government officials of Bangladesh are very actively involved in this issue, namely Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, who pledged to spend as much money as necessary on vaccine dosages, so no one would be left out. They are also involved in Gavi, WHO, COVAX, and IVI, which fund and support vaccine access and distribution.
The country of Bangladesh stresses to the international community that they ensure equitable and analytical access to vaccinations. This could be done by sharing vaccination technology, specifically technology from developed countries such as mRNA technology and production methods. Bangladesh also supports the strengthening of COVAX, due to their heavy reliance on this program which has delivered over 2 billion vaccinations worldwide. Finally, they support capacity building in developing countries. They have called for investment in cold-chain systems, healthcare worker training, and digital vaccine tracking . These are all crucial to ensure the vaccination of the people of Bangladesh, which has been analyzed by the UN who has dedicated effort to honoring their commitments to SDG 3.8 and SDG 3.b. The republic has continually confirmed its support for WHO’s international frameworks towards increasing vaccine access and distribution. This delegation stands ready to work with member nations of the WHO to ensure that all children and adults, no matter race, identity, income, or geographical location, have equal, convenient, and safe access to life saving vaccines.
