Bangladesh has begun a nationwide vaccination campaign to protect millions of children from typhoid, a life-threatening disease that is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

The monthlong drive, launched on Sunday, aims to immunise about 50 million children aged between nine months and 15 years with a single dose of the typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV).

The vaccine, approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), offers protection for up to five years and is being distributed free under the government’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

The campaign follows mounting concerns over drug-resistant typhoid strains spreading across South Asia. Pakistan has been battling a strain since 2016 that is resistant to nearly all antibiotics except one.

Health workers in Bangladesh

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