The CHRF team visited Sylhet's Monir Ahmed Academy and Haji Mohammad Raja Choudhury Uccho Biddaloy to conduct our rapid assessment program. Our team performed blood grouping and hepatitis B screening, free of cost to the participants. All participants were also thanked with CHRF gift hampers for their time and cooperation.
This program is part of a larger study to generate evidence on typhoid burden and detect which areas in Bangladesh are to be prioritised for the introduction of the typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV).
But that was not all! Monir Ahmed Academy organised a science discussion event for all students. They got to ask CHRF's Director & Scientist, Dr. Senjuti Saha, any question of their choosing. We were overwhelmed with the enthusiasm of every single student, even the ones studying in grade 1!
Our favourite question to answer was, 'what is it that scientists calling themselves infectious disease detectives do every day?' With our answers, we hope to have inspired a few microbiologists of the future sitting in the audience.
We would also like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the respective school authorities and board members for hosting us. We look forward to the coming months as we keep advocating for introduction of the typhoid conjugate vaccine and promoting science education wherever we go!
