Country faces vaccine shortage for 10 diseases

Health Services Division Secretary Kamruzzaman Chowdhury said on Tuesday that Bangladesh was facing a shortage of vaccines for at least 10 diseases, including measles, amid a sharp rise in infections across the country.

The government already allocated Tk604 crore to procure the vaccines. The funds were paid to UNICEF and the doses were expected to arrive soon, he added.

“Once the vaccines reach the country, a nationwide immunisation programme will begin,” he said while speaking to journalists during a visit to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH).

He said the vaccination drive slowed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has now taken up a large-scale programme to recover the gap and boost children’s immunity.

Authorities have also started identifying measles-prone areas. A team of three experts is working to determine whether a new variant is behind the recent surge in infections.

Expressing concern over child deaths in Rajshahi, the secretary said not all fatalities were caused by measles alone. “Many patients had other complications. We are addressing the gaps and have taken a comprehensive plan to control the situation,” he said.

Patient pressure at RMCH has risen sharply. More than 3,000 patients are now being treated at the 1,200-bed hospital.

He said this has strained services. Steps are being taken to transfer non-measles critical patients to other facilities and expand isolation capacity. Plans are also underway to increase beds and medical support.

In the past 24 hours, 34 children were admitted to the hospital with measles symptoms, pushing total suspected cases beyond 100. Of them, 41 tested positive. A dedicated ward and two paediatric units have been turned into measles care centres.

Hospitals in Dhaka have also started reporting rising cases. At the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali, beds once used for Covid-19 patients were now filled with children showing measles symptoms.

The secretary linked the outbreak partly to disruptions in vaccination during recent protests by healthcare workers. “Many children missed their doses during that period,” he said.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, nearly 700 children have been diagnosed with measles in the first three months of this year. The figure marks a steep rise from nine cases during the same period last year and 64 cases in 2024.

No official data on measles-related deaths is yet available.

Child dies in Ctg

A child died with measles-like symptoms in Chattogram, raising the number of such deaths in the port city to five.

The infant, aged under six months, had been referred from Cox’s Bazar and was admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital on Monday night.