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PANCHAGARH, Bangladesh, 10 March 2010 On a foggy February morning in Nayabari village, north-western Bangladesh, Johura Begum and her two grandchildren awoke at dawn. They dressed and went to a neighbour's house, joining some 30 other women and children for 'khesra teeka', or measles vaccinations.

Twenty-four children in the neighbourhood would be immunized that day. Each child between nine months and five years of age received a measles vaccination and each child under five received two drops of oral polio vaccine.

The immunization day at Nayabari village was part of a two-week national polio and measles campaign, which ran from 14 to 28 February and targeted about 20 million children under five. In order to ensure widespread participation, community health promoters made loudspeaker announcements and door-to-door visits to families like Johura's in the week prior to the campaign. The messages advised families about the importance of immunization.

UNICEF provided technical and financial support for the effort, which involved more than 50,000 health personnel, as well as 600,000 volunteers and non-governmental organization staff, working at 120,000 vaccination sites nationally. In remote communities such as Nayabari, pre-selected, centrally located houses became temporary immunization clinics.

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