As child deaths from measles rise, Tariq Rahman’s BNP said it had entered into a full-blown vaccine crisis, claiming there was not a single measles vaccine when it took office – statements seen as a veiled criticism of both Sheikh Hasina’s government and the interim formation led by Mohammad Yunus.“The current measles outbreak is due to the absence of regular immunization programs nationwide after December 2020 and the severe shortage of vaccines in subsequent years,” Health Minister Sardar Muhammad Sakhawat Hossain said on Sunday, referring to Hasina and Yunus’ tenure as prime minister.In the wake of nearly 460 children dying – six of them in the past 24 hours – from measles and more than 7,400 infected since mid-March, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has acknowledged a petition seeking to bar Yunus and 24 others from leaving the country pending the completion of an investigation into measles vaccine shortages.On Monday, the High Commission postponed the hearing on the petition seeking directions to form an independent investigation committee to determine responsibility for irregularities, delays and administrative failures in the procurement and distribution of measles vaccines and barred interim government advisers, including Yunus, from leaving the country until Tuesday.The UNICEF Bangladesh office has repeatedly warned the interim government led by Yunus of an imminent vaccine shortage and the resulting risk of disease outbreaks, officials said, adding that 42,092 suspected measles patients have been admitted to hospital, and 37,744 of them have recovered.
After a years-long hiatus in the measles vaccination campaign, the Health Minister said that with the help of UNICEF, vaccination was resumed in 2026 after the BNP took office, although he admitted that “in reality, when we started we did not have even a single measles vaccine in our hands.”Hussain said the situation had “improved somewhat” after large-scale vaccination campaigns were carried out in affected areas, upazilas and city areas, although health experts and doctors noted that the situation on the ground remained poor. This sharp increase has put health officials on high alert, especially in densely populated areas of Dhaka where the disease is spreading rapidly.
