The outbreak has infected over 2.11 lakh people and claimed 1,108 lives since March 15.
Bangladesh is grappling with its worst measles outbreak in decades, with more than 1,100 confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths reported since March, exposing serious gaps in childhood immunisation, vaccine procurement and healthcare preparedness.
According to official data released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Bangladesh’s unprecedented measles outbreak between March 15 and September 30, 2026, has affected more than 2.11 lakh people, with 191,731 suspected cases involving children showing measles-like symptoms and 21,520 laboratory-confirmed measles cases. Of those affected, around 169,800 patients required hospitalisation due to severe symptoms, while 162,873 were subsequently treated and discharged. The outbreak has claimed 1,108 lives, including 101 laboratory-confirmed measles deaths and 1,007 suspected fatalities involving children who died after developing measles-like symptoms.
The outbreak has triggered questions over the disruption of Bangladesh’s immunisation programme during the political transition that followed the 2024 upheaval. At the centre of the debate is a decision by the former interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus to change the country’s long-standing system of vaccine procurement.
Bangladesh had traditionally procured measles-rubella vaccines through international supply mechanisms involving UNICEF and Gavi. In 2025, the procurement system was shifted to an open-tender mechanism. Bangladesh’s current Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain told Parliament earlier this month that the change, despite warnings from UNICEF, contributed to a vaccine supply crisis. He said vaccines were available in international warehouses but shipments were delayed because final approvals and release of funds from Dhaka were not provided on time.
The procurement controversy has become an important part of the political debate over the outbreak. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, speaking to The Sunday Guardian, described the epidemic as the consequence of what she called “state negligence” and the breakdown of an immunisation system built over several decades.
Hasina alleged that political and administrative decisions taken during the Yunus-led interim administration disrupted vaccine procurement and created a substantial immunisation gap.
She claimed that Bangladesh’s measles-rubella vaccine stocks ran out in March 2026 and that vaccination coverage subsequently declined sharply. She also alleged that authorities failed to conduct a supplementary vaccination campaign when it was due.
The former prime minister further criticised the current BNP-led government under Tarique Rahman, alleging that the authorities failed to respond adequately once the scale of the outbreak became apparent.
“More than one thousand children dying from a preventable disease is not an ordinary administrative failure,” Hasina said, calling for uninterrupted vaccine supplies, special immunisation drives for vulnerable communities, real-time disease surveillance, expanded paediatric facilities and an independent investigation into the alleged procurement and vaccination failures.
The government’s response has included an emergency nationwide measles-rubella vaccination campaign targeting 3.4 million children aged between six months and 59 months who were missed by previous immunisation efforts.
Authorities lowered the minimum age for the campaign from the routine nine months because of the scale of the outbreak.
The campaign comes as Bangladesh continues to battle large immunity gaps created by disruptions to routine vaccination programmes during 2024 and 2025. Health experts have linked the current outbreak to political instability, interruptions in vaccine supplies and postponed or cancelled vaccination campaigns.
Since April, nearly 20 million children have reportedly been vaccinated through emergency and follow-up campaigns, although significant gaps remain.
For years, Bangladesh’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) was regarded as one of the country’s major public-health successes. Routine measles-rubella vaccination, combined with periodic nationwide campaigns, helped maintain high levels of childhood immunisation. The disruption of that system has raised concerns about the consequences of losing even a temporary level of vaccination coverage.
Notably, the outbreak, first detected in January in Rohingya refugee settlements near the Myanmar border, has subsequently spread across much of Bangladesh. The crisis has also placed additional pressure on hospitals, particularly in densely populated areas of Dhaka. Bangladesh is simultaneously experiencing a serious dengue outbreak, further stretching healthcare capacity.
The crisis has also exposed another challenge facing Bangladesh’s healthcare system: growing violence against medical professionals. The World Medical Association (WMA) on September 30 urged the Bangladesh government to take immediate steps to protect doctors, healthcare workers and medical facilities following reports of physical assaults, threats and vandalism at hospitals. The WMA said several reported incidents involved relatives of patients, particularly following deaths, and warned that violence could disrupt the quality, continuity and accessibility of medical care while further undermining public confidence in the health system.
The association called for stronger security at medical facilities, prompt investigations into attacks, accountability for perpetrators and improved mechanisms for preventing, reporting and monitoring violence against healthcare workers. It also urged the government to address systemic problems within the health sector in consultation with medical professionals.
The measles outbreak is also attracting attention in neighbouring India because of the two countries’ extensive and frequently crossed border.
Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri told The Sunday Guardian that the scale of the outbreak was concerning, particularly because of the large number of children reportedly affected and the movement of people between the two countries.
Sikri questioned the response of successive Bangladeshi administrations and said the reported changes to vaccine procurement during the previous interim administration warranted scrutiny, particularly in light of warnings attributed to UNICEF about potential supply disruptions. She called for coordinated action involving Bangladesh, the WHO and UNICEF and said Dhaka could approach India for vaccine assistance, if necessary. She noted India’s vaccine manufacturing capacity and its previous support to other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She also expressed concern over reports of attacks on healthcare workers and argued that greater attention was needed to the outbreak and its consequences for the healthcare system.
Vaccination expert Dr (Major) Rajesh Bhardwaj described the situation as “very alarming” and said the developments warranted vigilance in India, particularly in border areas. He pointed to the movement of people across the India-Bangladesh border as a factor that makes infectious-disease surveillance important.
Bhardwaj said Bangladesh needs a large-scale, free vaccination campaign to close immunity gaps and ensure that children can access vaccines without financial barriers. He also suggested using public figures and celebrities to strengthen awareness campaigns and counter vaccine hesitancy.
He emphasised the role of community health workers, saying they should be mobilised extensively to identify unvaccinated children, conduct vaccination drives, spread awareness and ensure that vulnerable communities are reached.
The scale of the current crisis marks a sharp contrast with Bangladesh’s earlier record on childhood immunisation and infectious-disease control. The immediate challenge for Dhaka is now not only to contain the measles outbreak but also to rebuild confidence in routine immunisation, restore reliable vaccine supply chains and protect the healthcare workforce dealing with the surge in patients. With than 2.11 lakh suspected cases and over 1,100 confirmed and suspected deaths recorded by late September, the outbreak has become a test of Bangladesh’s public-health infrastructure and its ability to restore immunisation coverage after years of political and administrative disruption.
