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DHAKA: Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain has taken personal responsibility for the deaths of children from measles, calling them his failure rather than that of his government.
He said he was continuing his efforts to address the situation.
The minister made the remarks at an event held at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute on Monday afternoon. He attended the programme as the chief guest to inaugurate the institution’s newly constructed four-storey steel building.
Towards the end of the event, a journalist asked the health minister who should be held responsible for the deaths of 1,200 children from measles over seven months — the interim government or the current government.
The journalist said someone had to take responsibility for the deaths.
In response, Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said, “The responsibility is mine. Hang me. This is my failure. But I have made efforts. It is not a failure of my government.”
Speaking about measles vaccines, the health minister said some people were spreading misinformation by claiming that the vaccines had been imported from India.
“This is not true. Only 8 per cent of the vaccines were imported from India. The rest came from Germany, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Indonesia,” he said, adding that the vaccines had been procured at low prices.
The minister further said the vaccines being used in Bangladesh had been tested and approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and supplied by UNICEF.
He said UNICEF, Gavi and the WHO were internationally recognised organisations for vaccine supply.
He added that if children had died of measles after the government procured vaccines from a private organisation instead of UNICEF, the people of the country would not have spared him.
The health minister also alleged that many parents had not vaccinated their children against measles.
He claimed that almost none of the children currently infected with measles had been vaccinated, with a large proportion of them being under six months old.
He added that he had been informed that almost none of the measles patients admitted to a particular hospital had received the vaccine.
The programme was chaired by Professor AKM Azizul Haque, president of the governing body of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute.
