'No vaccination without pay grade raise': Healthcare workers issue ultimatum

A group of healthcare assistants have issued an ultimatum of boycotting all vaccination programmes from next year unless their pay grade is raised.

A section of healthcare assistants, assistant health inspectors and health inspectors working at the field level under the control of the Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) issued the ultimatum under the banner of Bangladesh Health Assistant Association at a press briefing at the National Press Club in Dhaka today (18 October).

They demanded that the government amend the recruitment rules of health workers and promote them to 11th grade with equivalent rank of technical assistant.

Reading out a written statement at the event, the association's main coordinator Md Akhul Uddin demanded the implementation of the "announcement made on 6 December 1998 by the then prime minister and the agreement reached in 2020 at a discussion meeting chaired by the then health minister in the presence of the DGHS director general, other officials and our leaders".

He continued, "We seek the intervention of the health adviser so that the current interim government implements the said resolutions. If our demands are not met, we will refrain from all other activities including boycotting the EPI extended vaccination programme from 1 January."

According to Akhil, the protesting medical workers serve at 1.20 lakh temporary vaccination centres and upazila health complexes across the country during the EPI programme.

Under the programme, children and women are given vaccinations for 10 deadly infectious diseases – tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, pertussis, hepatitis-B, Haemophilus influenzae-B, measles, pneumococcal pneumonia, and rubella and 5 doses of TT/TD vaccine for women aged 15-49 years.