As of 8 am on Friday, 11 children in Bangladesh succumbed to measles and similar symptoms, pushing the death toll to 499 since March 15. The Directorate General of Health Services reported that nine of the recent deaths were suspected to be measles-related, with two confirmed cases. The outbreak has now seen a total of 414 suspected and 85 confirmed deaths.
In the past 24 hours, Bangladesh recorded 1,261 suspected measles cases, bringing the total suspected cases to 60,540. Additionally, 54 new confirmed measles cases were reported, raising the total number of cases to 8,329. Since March 15, 47,511 suspected measles patients have been hospitalized, with 43,411 recoveries.
UNICEF has highlighted the vaccine shortages in Bangladesh, warning of a potential health crisis. The organization communicated this concern to the earlier interim government led by Muhammad Yunus through letters and meetings with health ministry officials. UNICEF representative Rana Flowers stated that repeated warnings were issued from 2024 onwards regarding the vaccine shortage and its potential consequences.
Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, also raised the issue of vaccine shortage during a meeting with the foreign ministry in Bangladesh last year. Flowers mentioned that UNICEF would provide evidence to support the investigation initiated by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government regarding the measles outbreak.
