Daijiworld Media Network - Dhaka
Dhaka, Aug 12: At least five children died from the measles outbreak in Bangladesh on Wednesday, taking the total number of confirmed and suspected deaths from the disease to 885 this year, amid an escalating public health crisis in the country, local media reported.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday morning.
Of the latest fatalities, one was confirmed as a measles death while the remaining four were classified as suspected deaths, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
The number of confirmed deaths has now risen to 99, while suspected deaths have climbed to 786.
The DGHS recorded 941 new suspected measles cases during the 24-hour period, taking the overall tally of suspected cases to 139,125.
Additionally, 84 new confirmed cases were reported, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to 17,469.
As Bangladesh continues to witness a sharp rise in measles infections, a leading international advocacy group recently described the 2026 outbreak as one of the country's worst public health crises in recent history, stressing that measles is preventable through vaccination.
In its latest report, titled ‘Preventable Tragedy: Bangladesh's 2026 Measles Outbreak’, Canada-based Global Centre for Democratic Governance (GCDG) said that while the outbreak may have appeared sudden to the public, it was not unexpected from an epidemiological perspective.
The report attributed the crisis to a combination of disruptions to vaccine supplies and health programmes in 2024-25 during the former interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, along with missed routine vaccinations, cancellation of scheduled supplementary immunisation programmes, administrative delays in vaccine procurement and a failure to promptly identify at-risk populations.
According to the GCDG, Bangladesh had long procured WHO-approved vaccines through the international supply chain of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). However, the interim government replaced the system with an open tender procurement process.
Citing UNICEF, the report said the agency repeatedly warned the interim government of a potential vaccine shortage through five to six formal letters and around 10 meetings held between 2024 and 2026.
Referring to Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) data reported by Bangladeshi daily Samakal, the GCDG noted that measles vaccination coverage fell to 56.2 per cent in 2025, the lowest level recorded between 2017 and 2025.
The report added that the World Health Organization (WHO) later identified the nationwide stock-out of the Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine in Bangladesh during 2024-25, along with the lack of regular vaccination, as the main contributors to declining immunity among children and the 2026 outbreak.