‘Special measles-rubella vaccination campaign to begin 25 Sep’

The government will launch another nationwide special measles-rubella vaccination campaign on 25 September as measles infections continue despite earlier vaccination drives, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said on Thursday.
The minister made the remarks while speaking at a seminar organised at University Women’s Federation College in Dhanmondi in the capital to mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2026. The Association for Disabled People (ADP) and Rotary Club of Ahsan Manzil Dhaka organised the programme. ADP Chairman Rowshan Ara Zaman chaired the event.
He said that most of the children who are newly contracting measles have not yet received the measles vaccine, adding that the government initially faced difficulties in containing the measles outbreak as there was no adequate vaccine stock left by the previous government.
However, the health ministry subsequently procured vaccines and conducted an emergency vaccination campaign targeting children who remained outside the vaccination coverage.
“New vaccines have arrived from UNICEF for children who are still outside the vaccination coverage. Using these vaccines, the large-scale campaign will resume from 25 September,” he said.
The minister also said most of the vaccines required for the new campaign had already arrived in Bangladesh through UNICEF, while the remaining doses are expected to reach the country by 17 September.
Earlier, amid a rise in measles infections and deaths, the government began an emergency vaccination drive for children aged six months to 59 months in 30 high-risk upazilas from 5 April.
The campaign was expanded to four city corporation areas from 12 April and subsequently launched across the country on 20 April. The nationwide campaign continued until 20 May.
Despite the campaign, measles infections have continued.
According to government figures, 1,002 people had died from measles and measles-like symptoms as of Wednesday. The minister said that an additional 1.4 million children had already been vaccinated through subsequent activities.
He also said the government had collected vaccines for 18.5 million children within 21 days and completed the vaccination programme.