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Measles Crisis and Vaccine Shortage in Bangladesh

Monday, May 18, 2026
5 min read
Measles Crisis and Vaccine Shortage in Bangladesh

A real mess unfolded in Bangladesh recently. A public health nightmare, really. At least 459 kids died from measles, confirmed or suspected, just up until Sunday morning, spread over the last couple of months.

The numbers are staggering. Seventy-five deaths are officially tied to measles. But that’s just the confirmed bit. Three hundred eighty-four others are still suspected cases. It’s more than just statistics; it’s about the system buckling.

Then you have the political fallout. A petition got filed in the High Court. It was aimed at former interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus and twenty-four others. The argument? They were accused of letting the measles vaccine shortage happen while they were in charge.

M Ashraful Islam, a Supreme Court lawyer, took the next step. He filed a public interest litigation. He wanted the government to look into exactly what Yunus and the others did about the vaccine supply. That hearing is set for Monday.

The health situation itself is critical. The Directorate General of Health Services data showed 57,846 suspected measles cases recorded since March 15th. And that number jumped up—1,274 new suspected infections in just twenty-four hours. It’s relentless.

The pressure on the healthcare system is immense. Thousands of children needed hospital beds. Forty-two thousand suspected measles patients were reportedly admitted since mid-March. And still, over thirty-seven thousand people had recovered. It just keeps piling up.

This whole thing really points back to the vaccine supply. The Times of India reported something serious. There was an alleged severe shortage of measles vaccines between 2024 and 2025. That’s the time Yunus was leading the interim administration.

Health experts and doctors, specifically those linked to the ‘Bangladesh Child Protection Initiative,’ are pointing fingers. They blamed the interim government, and the health administration then in place, for this massive shortage. They said this crisis really fueled how fast measles spread across the country. They demanded legal action against Yunus and former health adviser Nurjahan Begum.

Protests followed quickly. People started marching. Demonstrators under the banner of ‘Socheton Nagorik Samaj’ formed a human chain in Dhaka. They were demanding a trial. A trial against Yunus and Begum over those deaths. They also wanted compensation for the families who were hit hardest.

Meanwhile, the medical side is trying to fight back. Health experts are pushing the government. They want immediate vaccination drives. They want dedicated spots—‘fever corners’—set up at local health complexes. Early diagnosis for measles and pneumonia, they insist.

It’s not just a localized issue anymore. An earlier report from AFP called this Bangladesh’s deadliest measles crisis in decades. Hospitals were completely overwhelmed. Doctors were just struggling to keep up with the spread.

You have to remember the context. Bangladesh had done good work on vaccination coverage before. But everything got disrupted during the 2024 uprising. That upheaval threw immunization programs into chaos.

Eventually, authorities did move. They launched an emergency measles-rubella vaccination campaign on April 5th. UNICEF, the WHO, and security forces all stepped in to help. So far, nearly seventeen million children have reportedly gotten their shots under this push.

But there’s still a huge gap. Officials admitted that last year’s vaccine coverage was only fifty-nine per cent. That’s way below the ninety-five per cent needed for herd immunity. It’s a massive failure, plain and simple.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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