Dhaka: Health and Family Welfare State Minister M A Muhit announced on Wednesday that Bangladesh may require at least two to three months to effectively control the measles outbreak and enhance the overall public health situation. Muhit emphasized the necessity of working within this timeframe to reduce fatalities and improve management while addressing a gathering at the Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the state minister acknowledged the challenges faced by the public healthcare system, which serves approximately 80 percent of the population. Years of mismanagement, corruption, and neglect have compounded these challenges. He also pointed out issues related to quality control and profit concerns within the country’s extensive network of private hospitals and diagnostic centers. Autonomous institutions like Bangladesh Shishu Hospital, Holy Family, and BIRDEM have contributed to balancing the public and private healthcare sectors.
Highlighting the government’s commitment to child healthcare, Muhit revealed plans to prioritize children’s health by operationalizing five fully fledged children’s hospitals in five divisional cities within the next two to three months. To mitigate the shortage of healthcare workers, the government aims to recruit 5,000 new doctors, 1,000 nurses, and 100,000 field-level workers in the near future.
The research presented at the meeting revealed that 43 percent of children admitted to hospitals with measles were aged between three and nine months. It also highlighted that 38 percent of affected children had not been exclusively breastfed for the first six months, with this figure rising to 82 percent among those who died, indicating a significant correlation between lack of breastfeeding and measles-related mortality.
Furthermore, the study found that 97.3 percent of children under nine months, who were ineligible for routine measles vaccination, were diagnosed with the disease. Among the older children eligible for vaccination, 97 percent who did not receive a single dose were found to have contracted measles.