The government has launched a nationwide special campaign to vaccinate 34 lakh children who were either missed in the main measles‑rubella programme or born since then.
The campaign, which aims to vaccinate children aged 6 to 59 months, will continue until 31 October.
At the inauguration of the “Special Measles‑Rubella Vaccination Campaign 2026” on Saturday, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said 2.25 crore children were covered under the Vitamin A capsule programme. On the other hand, only 1.85 crore received measles‑rubella vaccines.
Considering the gap of nearly 40 lakh children between the two programmes, an initiative was taken to identify and vaccinate those left out.
The minister said that from the day after the previous campaign ended until the day after Eid‑ul‑Azha, around 14 lakh children were located and vaccinated. As measles has not yet been fully eliminated in the country, a new catch‑up campaign has been introduced.
He added that UNICEF supplied another 40 lakh doses within 10 days. Combining the new supply with existing stock, the current programme targets 34 lakh children including 10 lakh newborns and 24 lakh previously missed.
He noted that 43 lakh doses have already been distributed across upazilas, and about 10 lakh doses will remain in reserve after this campaign.
Vaccines are also being stored for the next programme.
Minister Sakhawat said that from Saturday, vaccination activities have begun more intensively in every union and upazila, coordinated by local administration, civil surgeons, UNOs and health workers.
To accommodate working mothers, vaccination will be available even on holidays, and sessions will continue into the evening.
He also said that the measles‑rubella vaccination began on 5 April. In the first phase, it was conducted in 18 districts, later expanded to Dhaka and two other major city corporations.
From 20 April, ahead of schedule, the programme was rolled out nationwide. A total of 1.85 crore children were vaccinated under that campaign.
In addition to vaccination, the minister highlighted malnutrition among measles‑affected children. He said pneumonia and malnutrition are leading causes of death in such cases.
