Misinformation targets Bangladesh govt as it tackles deadly measles crisis
- Published on April 17, 2026 at 09:52
- 2 min read
- By Eyamin SAJID, AFP Bangladesh
At least 160 people have died in Bangladesh's worst measles outbreak in decades, data published by health authorities shows, contradicting rumours online that the government had ordered hospitals not to report certain fatalities. A health ministry official and the head of the largest children's health facility in the country separately denied the claims -- which were amplified by the party of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina.
"The government has instructed hospitals and clinics in every district and upazila not to report child deaths due to measles," reads a Bengali-language post shared on the Facebook page of Hasina's Awami League party on April 9, 2026.
Similar posts were shared on Facebook as Bangladesh scrambled to roll out vaccination ca mpaigns to stop the spread of measles (archived link).
Although the South Asian nation had made significant advancements in inoculating the population, a measles drive due in 2024 was delayed by the deadly uprising that toppled Hasina's autocratic government (archived link).
The disease is one of the world's most contagious, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and spreads via coughs or sneezes.
However, claims that the government is not disclosing any measles deaths among children are baseless.
Measles crisis
In late March 2026, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman ordered an urgent probe after a senior health official said more than 600 measles cases had been reported across the country (archived link).
Local media outlets, including The Daily Star and The Business Standard, have been covering the outbreak regularly, citing government figures.
Since April 3, Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), one of the agencies of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been regularly publishing information on measles on its website (archived here and here).
The cases are listed according to Bangladesh's divisions and provinces. The datasets also indicate both suspected and confirmed measles infections, with experts saying in many cases, testing is either not done or patients die before testing can be done.
The DGHS has reported that 166 people died in the outbreak as of April 16, with more than 19,000 suspected cases -- the worst in the nation for 20 years (archived link).
"The information that we release everyday includes the confirmed death and the suspected death of measles," Dr Md Zahid Raihan, spokesperson of the DGHS, told AFP on April 13.
"If we wanted to hide the number of total deaths, we would not include the suspected death. So, the claim does not have any basis."
Measles can affect people of any age, it is most common among children and can cause complications, including brain swelling and severe breathing problems.
The vast majority of deaths are among unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children under five years old, according to the WHO (archived link).
AFP reached out to the global health agency's representative in Dhaka, but a response was not forthcoming.
Dr Md Mahbubul Hoque, Director of the Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, the country's largest children's hospital, separately denied receiving any government notice not to release death tolls.
"The daily updates of the DGHS include our hospital's data in its report. We also keep a copy as proof, but we do not publish it on our website," he told AFP on April 15.
More of our reporting on health-related misinformation can be found here.
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