Bill Gates video spotlights Bangladeshi scientist Firdausi Qadri as two-dose cholera vaccination drive continues

Tech entrepreneur Bill Gates has put Bangladeshi scientist Firdausi Qadri at the centre of a video about the cholera vaccine. On October 7, he published the video on his Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media accounts, highlighting Qadri's work to stop outbreaks of the deadly disease through vaccination.

The video came at a time when a large cholera vaccination programme is already under way in Bangladesh. From August 22 to September 26, the first dose of the oral cholera vaccine was given under this programme.

That first-dose campaign ran in 14 designated high-risk areas across Dhaka, Kishoreganj, Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Brahmanbaria. Under the programme, vaccination was arranged for everyone from children over one year of age upwards, although pregnant women are not being given this vaccine.

Two doses of the vaccine are needed for complete protection against cholera. Accordingly, after the first dose, the second dose is being given from September 26 to October 25. The vaccine is administered from various schools and local health centres.

In the video, Bill Gates notes at the outset that cholera is a deadly diarrhoeal disease. The germ spreads mainly through contaminated water, and without timely treatment cholera can quickly become life-threatening. He says Bangladeshi scientist Firdausi Qadri is working to stop cholera outbreaks through the use of this vaccine.

In countries like Bangladesh, where population density is high and access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation is limited, the risk of cholera spreading is greater. Preventing the disease in the long term requires safe water and good sewage systems.

But building such large systems takes a long time and is expensive. It is here that the cholera vaccine works very quickly to stop the disease. The vaccine is easy to produce, affordable, and can be taken simply by mouth instead of by injection.

Bill Gates also says this easy-to-take vaccine can prevent a deadly disease like cholera. In this way, the research and work of scientist Firdausi Qadri and her fellow researchers are saving countless lives.

In the video, scientist Firdausi Qadri says Bangladesh has a national cholera control plan. It clearly sets out when and where the vaccine should be given. Implementing that plan and roadmap in practice will require around 100 million doses of vaccine.

Cholera outbreaks increase in winter and at certain times of the year. If the situation worsens, the infection rate can reach 30 percent and even as high as 60 percent. That is why, she notes, delivering the vaccine on time is essential to implementing the plan.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has long supported the development and research of a low-cost oral cholera vaccine in Bangladesh. Working jointly especially with icddr,b and Firdausi Qadri, the foundation has played a role in making an affordable cholera vaccine accessible. The video published by Bill Gates is essentially part of that awareness-raising vaccination campaign.

Scientist Firdausi Qadri is an internationally renowned researcher. She received the Independence Award (2013) and the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2021). She serves as head of the Mucosal Immunology and Vaccinology Unit of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).

This is not the first time Bill Gates has highlighted her work. He previously published a special feature on Firdausi Qadri's research and contributions on his own blog and website, Gates Notes. Together, this latest video and the ongoing two-dose vaccination campaign at home have once again brought Bangladesh's long-running cholera research and field work to the centre of international attention.