Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain today attributed the country’s ongoing measles outbreak to failures of both the previous Awami League government and the interim government.
“The outbreak is caused by the complete mismanagement and failures of past governments -- specifically the fascist government and the most recent interim government. Their poor decisions caused shortages in vaccine stockpiles, affecting vaccines for measles and six other diseases,” he said while responding to a notice from NCP lawmaker Akhter Hossen at the parliament, who sought urgent measures to curb the outbreak.
“Routine measles vaccines are administered to children from nine months of age, while special measles-rubella campaigns are conducted every four years. The last nationwide campaign was held in December 2020. Since then, newborns and other children have remained outside vaccination coverage, leaving them vulnerable to infection,” the minister added.
In his notice, Akhter said that in the past three weeks, suspected measles deaths exceeded 115, with 20 confirmed deaths. Thousands of children are infected.
He questioned whether the health minister’s claim of no measles vaccination in eight years was accurate, noting that field-level vaccinators expressed concern and differing views.
Akhter also asked why vaccinations had not been conducted, pointing out that measles treatment requires isolation, yet hospitals lack isolation facilities -- even major hospitals and district-level ones, especially in Rajshahi, where ICU and NICU facilities are absent.
He added that measles vaccines are given from nine months of age, but now even six-month-old infants are being infected. He urged investigation into why epidemiologists failed to identify the cause, and asked about government initiatives to combat measles.
The health minister said the outbreak resulted from “complete mismanagement and failures of past governments,” adding that poor decisions had caused shortages in stockpiles affecting measles and six other vaccines.
He said emergency measles-rubella vaccination began on April 5 in 18 districts and 30 high-risk upazilas, targeting all children aged six months to 59 months.
Regarding hospital facilities, the minister said isolation wards have been arranged in all government hospitals, with 250 additional isolation beds being prepared in Rajshahi.
“ICU and ventilator facilities are being readied, and a new oxygen flow system developed by icddr,b -- at a cost of only 300 taka -- is being used to deliver oxygen,” he added.
He said that vaccines are being procured urgently, with the World Bank promising support through loans and grants.
In a supplementary question, Akhter alleged mismanagement at the grassroots level, saying that despite allocations on paper, ordinary people are not getting isolation or ICU facilities.
He noted that about 25% of the health budget remains unspent, with Tk 11,000 crore unused in FY 2024–25.
In reply, the health minister said that Tk 604 crore of unspent COVID-era funds is being used to procure additional measles vaccines from UNICEF.
He assured that the ministry is alert to prevent future shortages, has cancelled all staff leave to strengthen field monitoring, and is coordinating closely with development partners like the World Bank and UNICEF.
Earlier, on March 29, the minister had told journalists that measles vaccines had not been administered in the country for the past eight years.
