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A prolonged measles outbreak in Bangladesh has killed more than 1,200 people, most of them children, and forced the PM Tarique Rahman-led BNP government to launch a nationwide vaccination campaign. The mounting death toll has now sparked a political blame game, with the country's health minister taking personal responsibility and saying "Hang me" when asked who should be held accountable.
According to reports in the Bangladeshi news outlets, Kaler Kontho and Bangladesh Pratidin, the remarks by Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain came amid mounting criticism of the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim regime.
The Yunus administration has been accused by the current BNP government of failing to conduct a scheduled nationwide measles vaccination campaign, as well as maintaining emergency vaccine stocks. Dhaka-based newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted State Minister MA Muhit as saying that the alleged lapses during the Yunus administration were under investigation by a special commission.
The current outbreak which began in March this year, has exposed serious gaps in Bangladesh's immunisation programme. Despite an emergency pan-nation vaccination campaign by the BNP-led administration, the death toll and the number of infections have continued to rise, with infants and children who miss out on inoculations being particularly vulnerable.
BANGLADESH HEALTH MINISTER TAKES RESPONSIBILITY, SAYS HANG ME
According to the reports by Bangladeshi outlets, the Kaler Kontho and the Bangladesh Pratidin, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain on Monday (November 9) took personal responsibility for the deaths, stating they were his failures rather than that of the administration.
Responding to a journalist who asked whether the previous interim administration or the current government should be held responsible for the deaths of around 1,200 children over seven months, Hossain said, "The responsibility is mine. Hang me. This is my failure. But I have made efforts. It is not a failure of my government."
The minister also pushed back against claims that Bangladesh's measles vaccines had largely been imported from India. He said only 8% of the vaccines came from India, while the rest were sourced from Germany, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Indonesia.
He added that the vaccines had been tested and approved by the WHO and supplied through UNICEF.
Hossain also claimed that most children currently infected with measles had not been vaccinated, with a substantial proportion being under six months old.
STATE MINISTER FOR HEALTH BLAMES YUNUS INTERIM REGIME FOR VACCINATION FAILURES
Hossain's remarks came amid an escalating political row over responsibility for the outbreak.
Last week, The Daily Star reported that Bangladesh's State Minister for Health, MA Muhit, accused Muhammad Yunus' interim administration of "extreme administrative negligence and irresponsibility", blaming it for failing to conduct a scheduled nationwide measles vaccination campaign and maintain emergency vaccine stocks.
"An investigation found that the national [special] vaccination campaign, which was supposed to be held in late 2024 or early 2025, was not conducted by the then government. There was not even any emergency stock of vaccines at the ministry," Muhit said.
For context, the last mass immunisation drive against measles occurred way back in 2020, under the rule of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
Since then, Dhaka has failed to launch further such drives, with one scheduled for 2024 being indefinitely delayed due to heightened political unrest in Bangladesh at that time. Dhaka-based outlet Prothom Alo reported in March that the vaccination rate, including for measles, for children aged 12 months dropped to a prodigious low of 59.6% in 2025.
Junior health minister Muhit added that the country witnessed an unprecedented measles outbreak just 15 days after the current Tarique Rahman-led BNP government took office in February. He added that a three-member commission, comprising a former judge and a medical expert, was investigating the alleged failures to establish accountability.
"We do not want to engage in a politics of blame. But we want to ensure that no child loses their lives prematurely because of the negligence of those entrusted with responsibility," he said, according to The Daily Star.
1,200 DEAD IN BANGLADESH MEASLES OUTBREAK
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by the Rubeola virus. It spreads through the air, and all unvaccinated people are at risk. The scale of the current outbreak has continued to grow despite emergency vaccination efforts.
According to Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), two more people died with suspected measles in the 24 hours ending November 9, taking the combined toll of confirmed measles and suspected infections to 1,284 since April 10.
Of these, 1,179 deaths were attributed to suspected measles infections, while 105 were confirmed through laboratory tests.
The DGHS also reported 1,359 new suspected cases and 81 new confirmed infections in the latest 24-hour period. The cumulative numbers stood at 2.4 lakh suspected cases and 24,523 laboratory-confirmed infections.
A total of 2.14 lakh patients with suspected measles had been admitted to hospitals, of whom over two lakhs had recovered and been discharged.
Children have borne the brunt of the outbreak, with infants and those who have missed routine vaccinations particularly vulnerable.
The current BNP-led government launched an emergency vaccination campaign in April, initially targeting young children, with support from international agencies including the WHO, UNICEF and Gavi. But with infections and deaths continuing to spiral, the whole outbreak demonstrates that no government can afford to neglect inoculating its population for even one year.
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(Written by Shounak Sanyal)
