Bangladesh Measles Outbreak Is a ‘Warning Sign’

South Asia Brief News and analysis from India and its neighboring countries in South Asia, a region home to one-fourth of the world’s population. A new expert report raises alarm about the country’s vaccination crisis. Kugelman-Michael-foreign-policy-columnist13 Michael Kugelman , the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly South Asia Brief and a senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council. Children receive treatment for measles at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute in Dhaka on Sept. 3, 2026. Children receive treatment for measles at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute in Dhaka on Sept. 3, 2026. Salahuddin Ahmed/AFP via October 28, 2026, PM Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief. The highlights this week: Bangladesh’s measles crisis could portend major outbreaks of other diseases, an Indian official makes a rare acknowledgement of Chinese incursions at the border, and Nepal receives assistance from the United Nations’ climate loss and damage fund. Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief. The highlights this week: Bangladesh’s measles crisis could portend major outbreaks of other diseases, an Indian official makes a rare acknowledgement of Chinese incursions at the border, and Nepal receives assistance from the United Nations’ climate loss and damage fund. Bangladesh Measles Crisis Growing Worse The news about Bangladesh’s measles crisis—already the world’s most severe—keeps getting worse. On Monday, an independent committee of national and international experts submitted a report to the country’s government declaring the outbreak a “litmus test and a warning sign of a deteriorating immunization system.” The report warns that without urgent steps, Bangladesh could experience major outbreaks of other serious diseases, including pertussis, or whooping cough; diphtheria; and even wild polio, which remains endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The experts’ warnings come on the heels of Reuters reporting last week based in part on new World Health Organization data. According to Reuters, there were 202,000 suspected measles cases in Bangladesh from mid-March through Oct. 9, leading to 1,147 deaths—94 percent of them among children under 5. The latest government figures, published this week, indicate that more than 1,200 children have now died in the outbreak since March. Six children died in a 24-hour period from Sunday to Monday—raising further concerns that the death rate could rise if the crisis isn’t properly addressed. Experts say the outbreak’s origins trace back to political instability in 2024, when mass protests ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The turmoil that followed interrupted vaccination campaigns, and the country hasn’t gotten back on track.