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Monday | September 21, 2026 | Dhaka

Govt to vaccinate 34 lakh children against measles

 Staff Reporter
 Published: 12:02 AM, 21 September 2026

The government will launch another nationwide measles vaccination campaign on September 26, targeting 34 lakh children aged six months to 59 months amid a rise in measles cases, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said on Sunday.

Announcing the campaign at a press conference at the Secretariat, the minister said the drive would continue until October 31 and would focus on reaching children who had missed previous vaccination campaigns.

A nationwide measles vaccination campaign was conducted from April to May 20 with support from UNICEF, Gavi and the World Health Organisation, achieving 102-104 per cent of the target of vaccinating 1.8 crore children, he said. A subsequent vitamin A campaign covering 2.23 crore children found that around 43 lakh children had missed the earlier measles campaign.

A mop-up campaign has since vaccinated another 19 lakh children, leaving 24 lakh still unvaccinated. Another 10 lakh children who turned six months old over the past three months have also become eligible for vaccination, taking the target for the new campaign to 34 lakh, Sakhawat said.

The minister said 43 lakh doses of measles vaccine had been collected from UNICEF on September 10, while another 15 lakh doses were already in stock, bringing the total available to 58 lakh doses.

“From 10am on the 26th, we are going for a massive nationwide campaign. Children aged six to 59 months will be vaccinated. This time, we will not just stay at campaign centres; we will deploy people inside villages so that not a single child is left out,” he said. A mop-up programme will continue after the campaign to vaccinate children who newly turn six months old, he added.