Court sets July 12 for order on case application against Dr Yunus over measles deaths

An application has been filed to sue former chief adviser of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus, former health adviser Nur Jahan Begum and two others over negligence in the measles outbreak that has killed hundreds of children across the country. The court will deliver its order on July 12.

The application was filed on Sunday morning, July 5, by Sirajul Islam, father of a victim child, before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Josita Islam in Dhaka. The court recorded the plaintiff's statement and set July 12 for the order. The matter was confirmed by the plaintiff's lawyer, Taslima Jahan Popi.

Besides Dr Muhammad Yunus and Nur Jahan Begum, the application named former Director General of Health Services Dr Md Abu Jafar and former Press Secretary of the Chief Adviser Shafiqul Alam as accused.

According to the application, the plaintiff's nine-month-old daughter, Sauda Muskan, was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after developing a fever. Due to bed shortages, lack of oxygen, negligence by doctors and nurses and lack of necessary treatment, the child's condition deteriorated. Additionally, she could not receive the measles vaccine on time due to a shortage of vaccine supply, and later died after contracting measles.

The plaintiff alleged that the concerned authorities failed to properly implement the measles vaccine collection, supply and vaccination programme. Due to this negligence, hundreds of children have died and thousands have been infected across the country, the application stated.

The application further stated that the actions of the accused constituted a failure to uphold the state's constitutional duty to protect public health and lives, abuse of power and negligence in their responsibilities.