UN assists in emergency vaccination drive as country battles worst surge in cases in years amid fall in vaccination rates
Bangladesh is battling its worse measles outbreak in years, with more than 100 children dead amid a rise in unvaccinated infants.
The government, in partnership with the United Nations, has begun conducting an emergency measles-rubella vaccination drive for children across the country, after more than 900 cases were confirmed since March.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease causing fever, respiratory symptoms and a characteristic rash and can sometimes have severe or fatal complications, especially in young children.
While vast gains have been made in mass immunisation against measles, there has been a recent resurgence, attributed to falling vaccine rates, with more than 11m cases recorded globally in 2024. There was a fatal outbreak in the UK this year, which killed two people, and states across the US have also been grappling with a deadly spread, with more than 2,000 cases registered in 2025, the worst in three decades.
