Yunus Marks 20 Years Since Nobel Win as Child Deaths from Measles Continue; Official Toll Exceeds 1,170 on Day of Congratulations

Special Correspondent, Dhaka. October 13, 2026.

On this day in 2006, the Nobel Peace Prize was announced in the name of Dr. Muhammad Yunus. While many are congratulating him on his 20th anniversary, child deaths due to measles continue in the country. According to the latest information from the Directorate General of Health Services, 6 children died today with symptoms of measles.

The report said that these deaths occurred between 8 am on Monday and 8 am today. Since March 15, 1,066 people have died of measles symptoms. And 104 people have died of measles. The total number of deaths is 1,170. This is the highest number of deaths from measles in the country’s history.

Actual deaths are higher, experts say

Some health experts believe that the official death toll is not fully captured. It is worth noting that at the beginning of the outbreak, the Department of Health revised the death and infection figures three times in two weeks.

Background to the crisis

According to the World Health Organization, there was a shortage of MR vaccine in the national supply in 2024-25, gaps in regular vaccination, and the scheduled measles-rubella supplementary mass vaccination program in 2025 was not carried out. According to BDDigest’s investigation, in May 2025, an official from the Department of Health told UNICEF that the vaccine stock would run out in a few weeks. However, the Yunus government reformed the procurement process and introduced open tenders, which delayed the new allocation.

Questions over decision to change measles-rubella vaccine procurement process and suspend national vaccination program

In late 2025, during the tenure of the interim government’s chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus and health advisor Nurjahan Begum, changes were made to the procurement process for measles-rubella (MR) vaccines that had been in place for almost a decade. It is alleged that the procurement process was reformed, and the conventional method was discontinued and MR vaccines were procured through open tenders. Earlier, during the Awami League government, these vaccines were directly imported without bureaucratic complications with the help of UNICEF and Gavi.

According to the investigation, the measles prevention program in the country was disrupted due to obstacles in vaccine procurement and distribution and the failure to organize the national vaccination program scheduled for 2025. As a result, a situation was created for the resurgence of measles, which had been under control for a long time.

According to a study by BDDigest, more than 1,200 children died of measles in the seven months from February to March 2026. The failure to vaccinate children against measles according to the age limits prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2024 and 2025 and the inability to ensure timely import and supply of vaccines are being cited as possible reasons for this situation.

In response to a question, UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Rana Flowers said,

“The reason for the delay in this procurement process after the current government took office was a decision by the (interim government) cabinet to purchase vaccines through open tenders.”

On the other hand, since the introduction of the MR vaccine in 2012, coverage has been at 90–95 percent. According to WHO-UNICEF, the coverage of the first dose in 2024 was 97% and that of the second dose was 93%. There were 311 confirmed measles cases in 2022 and 280 in 2023.

Current Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain has blamed the interim government for the crisis. Critics question why it took so long to take effective measures even after the elected government took office. By that time, the death toll had crossed the 1,000 mark.