Unicef sent five letters to Yunus government over vaccine shortage fears, all ignored

Unicef sent at least five letters to the Ministry of Health during the Dr Muhammad Yunus led interim government's tenure warning of a potential vaccine crisis, the organisation's Bangladesh representative has said. Additionally, the issue was raised in ten meetings with government officials.

Speaking at a press conference at the Unicef office on Wednesday, May 20, Unicef Bangladesh representative Rana Flowers said the interim government's changes to the vaccine procurement process led to delays in vaccines arriving in the country.

"The good news is that over 1.8 crore children have received measles vaccines. Measles is under control," she said.

Flowers repeatedly described the child deaths from measles as "extremely saddening" during the press conference, which lasted over two hours. She discussed the reasons behind the vaccine crisis, Unicef's role in addressing it, and ways to prevent such crises in the future.

She welcomed the government's initiative to investigate the vaccine crisis and the child deaths. Asked whether Unicef would assist in the investigation, Flowers said, "Unicef always stands with the truth."

Regarding the vaccine procurement process, she said the government could purchase vaccines through open tenders if it wished, but that process takes about a year. Vaccines can be procured more quickly through Unicef, she said, adding that maintaining an uninterrupted vaccine stockpile is crucial.

More than 60,000 people, mostly children, have been infected with measles this year. Some 475 have died. Measles deaths have never been so high in Bangladesh. The infection rate has never crossed 50,000 in the last two and a half decades. The highest number of patients previously was 25,934 in 2005. Cases had been declining since then. Only 132 patients were detected in 2025.

The measles outbreak began in January. Analysts believe negligence in measles vaccination during the interim government's tenure caused this severe outbreak.