Bangladesh measles outbreak claims one more life; death toll surges to 657
Dhaka, June 16 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) As Bangladesh grapples with an escalating measles outbreak, another child has died from the symptoms of the disease on Tuesday, raising the total number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 657 since March 15 this year, local media reported.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the death was reported in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning.
The latest death from the disease was identified as suspected, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
Reports suggest that while the number of confirmed deaths remained at 93, the total number of suspected deaths climbed to 564.
The DGHS recorded a total of 1,006 suspected measles cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall tally of suspected cases to 87,929.
Additionally, 136 new confirmed cases were reported, increasing the total to 10,523 during the same period.
On Monday, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina slammed the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim government for disrupting the country’s vaccination programme while pursuing a new vaccine procurement system.
She further alleged that the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government’s incompetence and negligence has resulted in the disease spreading into an epidemic.
“Out of ill intentions and personal interests, the illegitimate interim government disrupted the vaccination program while attempting to introduce a new system for vaccine procurement. And due to the incompetence and negligence of the current government, this disease has spread into an epidemic,” read a statement issued by Hasina, which was posted on the Awami League’s social media platform X.
“At present, nearly hundreds of thousands of children in 61 districts of the country are affected by this disease. According to official figures, more than six hundred children have died, although the actual number is much higher. The line of deaths is getting longer every day. This is not an accident; this is an administrative crime,” the former PM added.
Last month, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said that it had repeatedly warned the country’s earlier interim government, led by Yunus, both through written communication and meetings with Health Ministry officials, about vaccine shortages that could trigger a major health crisis.
Addressing a press briefing in Dhaka, Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative to Bangladesh, said that the UN agency sent five to six letters to the health authorities on the issue and raised the matter in 10 meetings during the tenure of the previous interim government.
“From 2024, we were warning the government that the shortage of vaccines could lead to an outbreak. From 2024 to 2025 and into 2026, we sent letters, and we had 10 different meetings, signaling this was a problem and that orders for vaccines needed to be given. They could not,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted Flowers as saying.
