https://arab.news/jx6ek
- MP accuses the Nobel laureate’s interim administration of negligence in duty
- Last month, another writ sought probe into Yunus government’s 18-month tenure
DHAKA: A new legal petition has sought to hold Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s previous administration, and members of his cabinet, accountable for the ongoing measles outbreak that has killed hundreds of children and overwhelmed the country’s health services.
Since the 1990s, Bangladesh’s vaccination campaigns have been able to contain the highly contagious, airborne disease but the mass immunization drive that should have taken place in 2024-25 was missed.
During that period, the country was ruled by a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Yunus, who took control after student-led protests that ousted the previous administration. The government was in charge for 18 months, until general elections in late February.
Shortly after, hospitals in Dhaka started observing a surge in children infected with measles. The outbreak was officially recorded on March 15, and 620 children have since died with the disease’s symptoms and over 79,000 have been hospitalized.
Blaming the previous administration, Mujibur Rahman Iqbal, a member of parliament, took legal action on Monday, accusing the caretaker government of negligence in duty.
“In the petition, we have stated that the previous interim government led by Prof. Yunus did not procure the measles vaccine, neglecting their responsibilities deliberately,” Advocate Rafiqul Islam, the petitioner’s lawyer, told Arab News.
He alleged that the immunization had not taken place “despite the fact that UNICEF had repeatedly warned, in writing, about the consequences.”
The petition was filed with a local court in Dhaka against Yunus, former health adviser Nur Jahan Begum, and three others.
While the court reportedly dismissed the plea on the same day, Islam said he was waiting for the written order to “move a plea for revision.”
The legal action follows a similar attempt last month, filed by a High Court lawyer under the Public Interest Litigation rule.
The current measles outbreak is the deadliest in Bangladesh in recent history. Despite a vaccination drive started by the new government in April, the infection rate does not appear to be slowing.
Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director of the disease control branch at the Directorate General of Health Services, told Arab News that about 1,000 children are being admitted to hospitals with measles symptoms every day.
“The numbers of cases are not coming down ... It was not expected — these numbers of cases and deaths — after the vaccination program,” he told Arab News.
“The government should review the situation, why it is not coming down, and find out the cause.”
Not all children who should be vaccinated have received the shots, as with the changed vaccination pattern following the missed mass drive, not all mothers may have been aware of it.
“For preventing transmission of measles, 95 percent coverage of vaccination is mandatory. It is a very infectious disease,” Ahmed said.
“In our country, the measles-rubella vaccine is given at the age of nine months and 15 months, but in this campaign, we have been giving the vaccine to children ranging from six months to 59 months. So, it is a different age group and probably many mothers do not know ... that their child needs to be vaccinated.”
