Tarique Rahman’s statement on measles vaccine is false

BD Digest Report

A statement made by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at a conference of upazila health officials has created a sensation across the country. Fact-checking organizations have labeled the Prime Minister’s claim that the previous government (Awami League) committed an ‘unpardonable crime’ by not vaccinating children against measles as ‘factually incorrect’ and ‘untrue’.

The Prime Minister recently said at a conference, “The life-threatening failure of the previous two immediate governments in not vaccinating children against measles across the country seems like an unforgivable crime.” Immediately after the Prime Minister’s statement, debate began on the issue in various media outlets and social media. However, investigations have shown that large-scale measles vaccination programs have been conducted in the country during the tenure of both the previous governments.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), a massive ‘measles-rubella campaign’ was carried out in Bangladesh from December 2020 to January 2021. During that time, about 36 million children were vaccinated. Cox’s Bazar was marked as a ‘red zone’ and about 800,000 children were vaccinated there as well. In addition, irrefutable evidence of this vaccination campaign has been found in the documents of various upazila parishads in the country, including Dinajpur and Jamalpur, and the activities of the non-governmental organization Gonoshasthaya Kendra. At that time, former Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was in power.

Current Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Hossain Bakul recently claimed that no government has vaccinated against measles since eight years ago. An incomplete screenshot of the Department of Health website also went viral on social media, showing only 57% vaccination coverage for 2025.

However, Dr. Mohammad Shahriar Sajjad, Deputy Director of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) of the Directorate General of Health Services, confirmed that the data was incomplete. According to the actual data, the coverage of the first dose of measles vaccine in 2025 was 92 percent and the coverage of the second dose was 90 percent. The World Health Organization’s Bangladesh office also confirmed that this information is correct.

The fact-check report has sparked a storm of discussion in political circles after the Prime Minister’s claim was proven false. According to analysts, making such statements without verifying the facts on important issues like the health sector can create confusion in the public mind. Especially where more than 90 percent coverage has been achieved under the tenure of previous governments, many consider the claim of ‘not vaccinated’ to be politically motivated.