Children dying of measles due to interim govt's wrong policies: State Minister for Health

State Minister for Health Dr M A Muhit has said that child deaths from measles and rubella are occurring due to wrong policies adopted during the interim government's tenure. He described the situation as highly unfortunate.

The state minister made these remarks at a seminar organised by 'Bangladesh for Good Health' at the Samson H Chowdhury Hall of Dhaka Club on Sunday, April 19.

Dr Muhit said the immunisation programme had been running under the 'Sector Support' programme for a long time. Although its tenure ended in 2020, it had been extended until 2024. However, during the interim government's time, the programme was suddenly halted, and no effective initiative was taken on how to continue vaccination activities. As a result, immunisation was disrupted, leading to child deaths from preventable diseases like measles, he claimed.

He informed that the current government is taking necessary measures to prevent measles quickly.

Dr Muhit further said the country's health sector had long been neglected, creating major weaknesses in the healthcare system. Some places lack doctors, some lack equipment, and where equipment exists, it remains non-functional. Even hospital environments are extremely fragile, he commented. He noted that overcoming this situation is a major challenge for the current government.

Adviser to the BNP Chairperson, Dr Zia Haider, presented the keynote paper at the seminar. He said that due to neglect, irregularities and corruption in past years, public trust in the health sector has declined, and a huge amount of money is being spent on medical treatment abroad.

Outlining a framework for an integrated health system, he emphasised a strong referral system between primary and secondary care, digital health IDs, telemedicine, and improving service quality at upazila and district levels.

Various experts participating in the discussion highlighted the need for health sector reform, medical education development, control of respiratory diseases, food safety, pharmaceutical industry quality improvement, and a strong regulatory system.