Bangladesh launched a nationwide measles-rubella catch-up campaign on Saturday, September 26, aiming to vaccinate 3.4 million children as a major outbreak continues. Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain opened the drive in Dhaka, according to bdnews24.com and the Dhaka Tribune. It targets children aged six to 59 months who missed previous doses, including infants newly old enough for the emergency campaign.
The new round follows mass vaccinations that began in April but did not reach every child. The minister said 2.4 million previously missed children and about one million infants who recently turned six months old make up the current target. The campaign is scheduled to run through October 31, with vaccination sites operating on holidays and into the evening to make access easier for working families, the local reports said.
Reuters reported that government data showed 1,087 suspected and confirmed measles-related deaths, including 101 laboratory-confirmed fatalities. Since March 15, authorities had recorded nearly 187,000 suspected infections and 21,099 confirmed cases, Reuters said. Those categories describe different levels of verification and should not be treated as identical. The agency reported that hospitals were also managing a seasonal rise in dengue cases.
The minister said earlier measles-rubella rounds reached about 18.5 million children. A later effort identified and vaccinated another 1.4 million, yet infections continued, according to bdnews24.com. UNICEF supplied vaccine doses for the renewed effort, while local administrators and health workers are coordinating sites across the country. A World Health Organization representative told bdnews24.com that teams would need to vaccinate more than 100,000 children each day to meet the target.
Reuters attributed the outbreak's severity to gaps left by disrupted routine immunization, vaccine supply problems and delayed campaigns in 2024 and 2025. Measles is highly contagious, and unvaccinated young children face particular risk. The six-month minimum age in this emergency drive is below the usual nine-month starting age for routine measles vaccination, Reuters reported; the campaign is intended to reach children during the outbreak.
Health officials plan joint field reviews with WHO and UNICEF teams in all eight divisions from October 4 to 14, bdnews24.com reported. The immediate measure of progress will be whether vaccination teams can find the children missed in earlier rounds and deliver doses by the October 31 deadline. Authorities say closing those gaps is central to reducing further infections and deaths.
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