Measles Vaccination: Govt fast-tracks nationwide drive

The government has advanced the launch of a special measles and rubella vaccination drive to April 20 from May 3 as measles cases continue to surge.

Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain announced the decision in parliament yesterday.

Earlier, on April 5, while inaugurating the emergency measles and rubella vaccination drive for 30 highly affected upazilas, he said the special campaign in four city corporations would begin on April 12, followed by a nationwide campaign from May 3.

The special drive in four city corporations -- Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Mymensingh, and Barishal -- will begin as announced earlier, Shahriar Sajjad, deputy director of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, said.

He said a meeting with the health minister and top officials yesterday morning considered all aspects, particularly the sharp rise in measles cases, and decided to bring forward the nationwide campaign to April 20.

Sajjad added that, according to earlier estimates, 1.99 crore children aged six months to under five years were supposed to be covered by the nationwide drive.

“However, as the emergency drive in 30 upazilas has already begun, and the drives in the four city corporations are set to begin on April 12, the children covered under those drives will be deducted from the nationwide campaign.”

About the 30-upazila drive currently underway, he said it is progressing smoothly, with around 98 percent of the coverage target met.

Rumeen Farhana, an independent MP from Brahmanbaria-2, yesterday pointed out in parliament that health workers who carry vaccines to the grassroots have not received wages for the past nine months.

In a notice calling attention to urgent public matters during a parliamentary session chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, she raised alarm over gaps in vaccination and the fatal measles outbreak.

“The interim government had not placed any new orders for the vaccine. A total of 35 districts have only half the health workers they need to carry out vaccinations, and suffer from shortages and lack of recruitment,” Rumeen said.

The health minister confirmed that the health workers had not been getting paid.

“The porters haven’t gotten paid for the last nine months, it is true,” he said, adding that the government has held meetings and will start rolling out payments in phases within a day or two.

During his response, the minister listed 18 measles hotspots in the country -- Barguna, Dhaka’s Nawabganj, Shariatpur, Jhalokathi, Chandpur, Cox’s Bazar, Munshiganj, Madaripur, Gazipur, Jashore, Mymensingh, Netrakona, Pabna, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Chapainawabganj and Natore. “In these districts, the hotspots are either localised within one upazila or two upazilas.”

He, however, claimed that there are enough health workers to carry out vaccination programmes.

Meanwhile, 10 more people died of suspected measles in 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, taking the total number of suspected measles deaths to 138 since March 15 this year, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Of the 10 deaths, six were reported from Dhaka division, three from Rajshahi, and one from Khulna, it added.

Besides, 1,248 new suspected cases were recorded during this period, raising the total number of cases to 11,133 since March 15.

The DGHS, however, said it has confirmed a total of 21 deaths as measles-related, along with 1,599 confirmed cases so far.

Samples from suspected patients are tested at reference laboratories in Dhaka, a process that takes considerable time. Suspected cases are included in the list, and confirmed cases are updated later, creating a discrepancy between the two figures, DGHS officials said.

Besides, rash and fever, the main symptoms of measles, are common to several other diseases. Therefore, not all suspected cases are ultimately confirmed, which contributes to the difference between suspected and confirmed deaths, they added.