Dhaka, April 8 -- Rumeen Farhana, an independent MP from Brahmanbaria-2, has raised the issue of child deaths from measles, vaccine shortages, unpaid salaries of health workers, and field-level preparedness in parliament after a deadly outbreak across Bangladesh.

In response, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said that there was indeed a vaccine shortage, but the government has managed it; the stock is now "stable" and an emergency vaccination programme has kicked off.

In a notice calling attention to urgent matters of public importance in the session chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad on Wednesday, Rumeen said that the situation has become dire due to the gaps created in the regular vaccination programme in...