Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Health Affairs, Ziauddin Hyder, on Wednesday accused the ousted Awami League government of manipulating measles vaccination data, claiming inflated coverage figures and policy failures left thousands of children vulnerable to the country’s ongoing outbreak.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Hyder alleged that the nationwide measles-rubella vaccination campaigns conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 failed to achieve the success rates officially reported at the time.

According to him, inaccurate reporting created a false sense of security while many children remained unvaccinated.

“The previous government was extremely adept at data tampering,” Hyder said, adding that the published immunisation statistics were unreliable and did not reflect the actual vaccination coverage on the ground.

He further criticised the failure to hold the next scheduled nationwide measles-rubella campaign for 2024-25, blaming administrative inefficiency under the interim government for widening the immunity gap.

That lapse, he argued, significantly contributed to the rapid spread of infections now being witnessed across the country.

Hyder said the government first identified signs of a major outbreak in mid-March and responded by launching an emergency vaccination drive on April 5. DGHS Director General Pravath Chandra Biswas said the campaign initially targeted 18 districts, 30 high-risk upazilas, and 13 municipalities before later expanding nationwide.

Health officials acknowledged longstanding structural weaknesses in Bangladesh’s healthcare system but maintained that the current administration acted quickly to contain the outbreak, securing vaccine supplies within weeks despite having no reserve stock available at the outset.

Hyder also announced plans to strengthen the country’s healthcare infrastructure by increasing public health expenditure by at least 1% of GDP and recruiting 100,000 frontline health workers to improve primary healthcare services nationwide.

Biswas noted that measles cases have been rising globally, citing World Health Organization trends showing an 18% increase in infections worldwide.

He stressed that malnutrition has been a key factor behind child deaths in Bangladesh, as weakened immunity leaves children more susceptible to severe complications such as pneumonia, the leading cause of death in critical measles cases.

As of Wednesday, government data showed 432 child deaths linked to suspected measles cases, including 69 laboratory-confirmed fatalities. Since March, hospitals across Bangladesh have admitted more than 38,000 children with suspected infections.

Officials said vaccination coverage among the targeted 18 million children is now nearing completion, with some districts surpassing initial targets.

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