Bangladesh is facing a growing rabies vaccine crisis after the suspension of the country’s five-year health sector program disrupted the central vaccine procurement system, leaving government hospitals across multiple districts struggling to provide life-saving doses to animal-bite victims.
What began as a shortage of measles vaccines has now spread to rabies vaccines, exposing wider cracks in the country’s public health supply chain nearly a year after the interim government halted the operational plan under the health sector program. Health officials say the suspension eff ectively paralyzed the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI)-linked procurement mechanism that previously ensured regular vaccine supplies to government hospitals nationwide. Instead, hospitals are now relying on slower annual procurement processes and limited local purchases that have failed to meet rising demand.
As shortages deepen, many patients arriving at district and upazila hospitals are being turned away or forced to buy vaccines from private pharmacies at costs ranging from Tk600 to Tk800 per dose, despite rabies vaccines previously being provided free at government facilities. In some hospitals, patients are reportedly being asked to wait until four victims arrive together because a single vial must be divided among four people. Civil surgeons across the country described mounting pressure on already strained health facilities.
Bandarban Civil Surgeon Dr Shahin Hossain Chowdhury said the district recently ran out of vaccines completely before emergency doses were collected with assistance from the deputy commissioner. “Twenty to 25 patients come every week. Sometimes five or six animal-bite victims arrive together. It is still difficult to manage the situation,” he said.
Faridpur Civil Surgeon Dr Mahmudul Hasan said shortages were forcing hospitals to delay vaccinations. “One dose has to be divided among four people. Sometimes patients have to wait until four people are present together,” he said.
Officials in Manikganj and Narayanganj said hospitals were trying to manage the crisis through small-scale local purchases, but supplies remain far below demand. “When the crisis becomes severe, patients are being asked to buy vaccines from outside. This increases suff ering for poor patients,” a Narayanganj health official said.
Health authorities in Cox’s Bazar also warned that the situation could worsen further ahead of the monsoon months, when animal-bite cases typically increase. Civil Surgeon Dr Saber said vaccine stocks there were “almost finished” as demand continued to rise.
Officials said similar shortag- es are being reported in Barisal, Naogaon, Bogra, Brahmanbaria, Rajshahi and Khulna, where hospitals are struggling with rapidly depleting stocks and delayed supplies. Public health experts warned that the crisis threatens years of progress in rabies control.
Former Disease Control director at the Directorate General of Health Services, Benazir Ahmed, said Bangladesh had significantly reduced rabies-related deaths through major investments under the previous health sector program. However, he warned that delays in vaccine procurement and the stalled mass dog vaccination program are now putting the country’s goal of eliminating rabies by 2030 at risk.
Health Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts. Meanwhile, Disease Control officer Dr Md Halimur Rashid said authorities had approved procurement of 900,000 doses of rabies vaccine and hoped fresh supplies would arrive within a week. “As soon as the vaccine arrives, distribution will begin at district and upazila levels,” he said.
