As World Health Day 2026 is being observed Tuesday around the theme, “Together for health: Stand with science,” public health experts in Bangladesh are sounding an urgent warning: misinformation is becoming one of the most serious threats to the country’s health sector.
From Covid‑19 vaccine rumors to recent false claims surrounding typhoid and measles immunization, misleading information, both accidental and deliberate, is influencing behavior, weakening trust, and putting lives at risk.
Mushtaq Ahmed, former chief scientific officer of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told Dhaka Tribune that the pandemic showed how misinformation spread rapidly, not only in Bangladesh but also in countries like the United States.
He stressed that while misinformation can arise unintentionally, disinformation, knowingly sharing false information, is more dangerous and can have a direct impact on vaccination uptake and treatment choices.
During the nationwide typhoid vaccination campaign launched in October 2025, rumours circulated online and offline claiming the vaccine could cause infertility in girls or reduce masculinity in boys, or that Bangladeshi children were being used as “guinea pigs.”
Immunization expert Tajul Quadri told Dhaka Tribune that such campaigns are not new; during the 2014 measles campaign, false claims about the vaccine being “foreign” and not halal discouraged many parents despite World Health Organization (WHO) pre‑qualification and national expert review.
Public health experts say such baseless claims are not only misleading but also dangerous, as they risk undermining a critical effort to prevent a potentially life-threatening disease.
“Negative campaigns around vaccines are not new in Bangladesh. During the typhoid vaccine rollout, false claims spread that it was an Indian vaccine and ‘haram’, discouraging many from taking it,” said Tajul Quadri while speaking to Dhaka Tribune.
“But all vaccines under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) are approved by the World Health Organization. Even when vaccines are produced locally, they are not introduced into the programme without WHO approval,” he added.
Reflecting on past experiences, he said Bangladesh had confronted similar rumours during large-scale campaigns.
Quadri noted that anti-vaccination narratives are more entrenched in Western countries.
“There is a strong anti-vaccine lobby globally. Figures like Robert F Kennedy Jr, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, have openly expressed scepticism about vaccines. Compared to that, the situation in Bangladesh has been relatively better, with historically high immunisation rates,” he said.
However, he warned that any decline could have serious consequences.
“Bangladesh was on track to receive measles elimination certification by 2026 and aims to become a measles-free country by 2030. If misinformation continues to affect vaccine uptake, recovering that progress will be very difficult,” he added.
Social media and rising vaccine hesitancy
Bangladesh has long been hailed for its strong immunisation programme, with WHO and UNICEF estimates showing over 97% coverage for several basic vaccines in recent years.
Yet experts warn that even a 5–10% drop in coverage can reignite outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases.
With millions of Bangladeshis relying on Facebook and other social media for health-related information, false claims travel faster than scientific facts, say public health communication specialists.
During Covid‑19, misinformation affected vaccine acceptance; now similar patterns are visible around typhoid and measles, with posts warning that vaccines are “poison,” linked to “black magic,” or part of a Western conspiracy targeting Muslim communities.
The fact‑checking group Dismislab has identified dozens of nearly identical anti‑vaccine posts circulating in just a few days, many urging parents not to vaccinate and instead use unproven “prophetic” or Ayurvedic remedies to combat measles.
The spread of misinformation is already leaving a mark. According to the Health Department, since March 15, 2026, 118 children have died across the country due to suspected measles.
Doctors say most hospitalized measles cases involve children who were not fully vaccinated, and unvaccinated older children are acting as carriers, infecting vulnerable infants.
At Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, nearly 59% of measles patients admitted were aged 0–9 months, too young to have received their first dose.
Meanwhile, the typhoid conjugate vaccine Typhibev, pre‑qualified by WHO and recommended as a single‑dose, highly safe and effective tool, has faced coordinated online campaigns falsely claiming it introduces live typhoid bacteria or has unknown side‑effects.
UNICEF and DGHS officials say uptake in urban areas has dipped compared with rural zones, partly because of confusion sown by social media posts.
Trust deficit and the cost of misinformation
Experts link the rise of health misinformation to a trust deficit, especially in Bangladesh’s under‑financed health system.
Over 70% of health spending comes from out‑of‑pocket payments, pushing many families towards informal or unverified advice found on social media.
A health economist told Dhaka Tribune that when people cannot afford formal care, they turn to family, neighbours, or viral posts—where misinformation often step in.
Health officials at DGHS warn that misinformation does more than confuse people; it undermines frontline workers and erodes faith in doctors and nurses. A DGHS official described trust as the “core currency” of public health, adding that once trust is damaged, whole immunisation programmes can falter.
Standing with science: routes to resilience
On World Health Day this year, experts have urged a multi‑pronged response: expanding science‑based communication, training community health workers as trusted communicators, monitoring and countering misinformation online, and investing in public health literacy.
WHO emphasizes that measles is highly contagious and potentially fatal, with no cure beyond supportive care; one to three children can die per 1,000 infections, but vaccination has prevented millions of deaths globally, including in Bangladesh.
A former EPI Director told Dhaka Tribune that measles vaccines are used in more than 100 countries and are not experimental but life‑saving tools, backed by decades of data.
“There is propaganda against vaccines, but there is also strong scientific evidence in their favour,” he said.
“The challenge is to make that evidence visible, understandable, and trusted.”
With Bangladesh being at a critical juncture, public health specialists are of the opinion that standing by science is no longer optional; it is essential to protect the progress made in immunization and to keep preventable diseases from regaining ground.
This year’s World Health Day theme highlights the need to translate evidence into real‑world policies, strengthen trust in scientific facts, and advance universal health coverage, with a particular emphasis on the “One Health” approach that links human, animal, plant, and environmental well‑being.
In Bangladesh, this message comes amid rising concerns about health misinformation and stresses the need to “stand with science” not just symbolically but as a practical imperative for sustaining decades of progress in immunisation and disease control.
