Vaccination lapses behind measles surge

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Sakhawat Husain told Parliament today that the recent spike in measles cases in Bangladesh is a result of vaccination gaps and mismanagement by previous governments, including the immediate past interim administration.

The minister made the statement while responding to a notice submitted by National Citizen Party (NCP) MP Akhter Hossen.

He noted that the country’s last special measles-rubella vaccination campaign was conducted in December 2020 and has not been repeated in more than five and a half years, despite such campaigns being scheduled every four years.

“As a result, many children, including newborns, remain unvaccinated and are now contracting measles,” he said.

The minister also clarified an earlier statement he made to journalists on March 29, in which he said measles vaccination had not been carried out for the past eight years.

That remark had raised concerns among field-level health workers.MP Akhter Hossen, in his notice, said suspected measles-related deaths have exceeded 115 over the past three weeks, with 20 cases confirmed.

He also highlighted that thousands of children have been infected, citing serious gaps in healthcare infrastructure, including a lack of isolation wards, ICUs, and NICUs at district and upazila hospitals—particularly in the Rajshahi region.He further raised concerns that although measles vaccination in Bangladesh usually begins at nine months of age, children as young as six months are now being infected, indicating weaknesses in surveillance and diagnosis.In response, the minister said emergency vaccination drives began on April 5 in 30 high-risk upazilas across 18 districts, under the directive of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The campaign targets children aged 6 to 59 months, with an initial goal of vaccinating 1.2 million children.“On the first day, 73,000 children were vaccinated out of a target of 76,000 in the 30 upazilas, achieving 96% coverage,” Sakhawat said.The campaign will expand to Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Barishal city corporations from April 12, with a nationwide rollout scheduled for May 3. Vitamin A supplementation is also being administered alongside vaccinations.Addressing hospital preparedness, the minister said isolation wards have been set up nationwide. In Rajshahi, 250 additional isolation beds are being prepared, ICU and ventilation facilities are being strengthened, and a low-cost oxygen delivery system developed by icddr,b is being deployed.

Sakhawat added that the government is procuring vaccines on an emergency basis, with the World Bank providing support through loans and grants.In a supplementary question, MP Hossen raised concerns over ongoing field-level mismanagement, noting that despite budget allocations, patients are not receiving adequate isolation or ICU support. He also pointed out that around 25% of the health sector budget remains unspent, including Tk11,000 crore from the 2024-25 fiscal year.The minister responded that Tk604 crore in unspent funds from the COVID-19 period is being used to procure additional measles vaccines through UNICEF. He added that all leave for health workers has been cancelled to strengthen field-level supervision and that coordination with development partners, including the World Bank and UNICEF, has been intensified.