Procurement changes under interim govt triggered measles vaccine stockouts: Science.org
For decades, the Unicef had supplied the country's vaccines with funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
A policy shift by the interim government to overhaul the country's vaccine procurement system has been identified as the primary catalyst for the current measles epidemic, which has killed over 250 children across Bangladesh.
According to a report by the scientific journal Science.org, the breakdown began in September 2025 when the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, halted the long-standing arrangement of procuring vaccines through Unicef.
For decades, the UN agency had supplied the country's vaccines with funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
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The interim administration replaced this system with an "open tender" process, where the government invites private suppliers to bid for contracts.
The decision was met with immediate and vocal opposition from Unicef.
Rana Flowers, Unicef's representative in Bangladesh, told Science.org that she had repeatedly warned the interim health adviser, Nurjahan Begum, of the risks.
"For God's sake… don't do this," Flowers recalls pleading the adviser, expressing frustration that the UN agency's warnings about potential outbreaks were ignored.
The transition to a tender-based system reportedly became mired in bureaucratic delays. As the procurement process stalled, the national supply of measles-rubella (MR) vaccines dried up, leading to widespread stockouts, the report claims.
A supplemental immunisation campaign originally scheduled for 2024 but moved to 2025 by the interim government was eventually cancelled altogether.
The impact on public health was immediate.
Internal government data from late March indicated that only 59% of eligible children received their measles vaccinations in 2025, a sharp decline from the 95% coverage needed to prevent epidemics.
Experts say this immunity gap allowed the current outbreak to spread to 58 of the 64 districts.
Professor Dr Md Sayedur Rahman, former special assistant to the interim government for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and former vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Medical University, defended the policy change in an email to Science.org.
He stated that the previous arrangement relied on a legal clause intended for emergencies and that the interim government sought to establish a "regular, rule-based system" to avoid perceptions of bias or transparency issues.
However, the consequences of the shift have sparked a legal backlash.
On 12 April, Supreme Court lawyer Biplob Kumar Das filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging corruption and failure in vaccine procurement under the interim administration.
Unicef's Rana Flowers agrees that given the dramatic fallout, the decision to change the procurement system needs to be investigated.
Meanwhile, as the crisis has stirred outrage and recriminations, during a Q&A session in Parliament, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman blamed both the ousted Hasina's government and the interim government.
However, in an email to Science.org, Sheikh Hasina--who was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity in absentia and is now in exile in India--said her government prioritised vaccination and pointed out that no major measles outbreaks occurred during her 15-year rule.
