“I didn’t want to earn money by sharing the picture of a measles-infected boy on Facebook”

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Little Arham of seven months. The child who used to cry only when he was hungry, now cries for no reason. The discomfort in the eyes, the red spots all over the body – it was as if the measles had suddenly taken him to another world. Content creator father Mushfiqur Rahman feels helpless after seeing his son’s cry. With the pain of saying no, he took a picture of his son and posted it on Facebook.

The post on Facebook was titled – ‘Rashtra gifted measles to my child’. In the Facebook post on April 22, Mushfiqur wrote, ‘I apologize for giving birth to him in this country. I brought him to a country whose leaders go to Singapore even if they have a fever. Their children lead better lives abroad. They didn’t feel the need to buy vaccines for our children in the past few years. And that measles has become an epidemic in my child’s body.

Soon after this post spread on social media, discussion and criticism started. While many of the commenters prayed for Arham’s recovery, many objected to the post’s wording ‘last few years’. Some have argued that while the interim government has been negligent about the purchase of vaccines, why has the issue of other governments been dragged out? Many people are attacking again by questioning how a father posts on Facebook even when his child is infected with measles.

“I posted the picture out of helplessness”

Mushfiqur’s house is in Bogra. His son Arham is now admitted to TMSS Hospital there. On Saturday, Mushfiqur told Prothom Alo over the phone that his son was first admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, but later a rash appeared on his body. The doctor confirmed that measles. Then despair surrounded from all around. His wife Shahinur Ferdausi took a picture before crossing the road with her son in her arms. He later posted that picture on Facebook.

Mushfiqur’s post on April 22 has been viewed more than 12 million times on Facebook till April 24. His income from this picture on Facebook is more than 15 thousand rupees.

Mushfiqur said, I did not want my child to have measles. I didn’t want to earn money by posting pictures of measles-affected boy on Facebook. I just posted the picture to express my frustration and helplessness as a father and how will other people know if the victims don’t report their suffering?’

Stating that he is treating the child with a loan, he said, even if the child returns home after recovery, he will give the money earned by posting his son’s photo on Facebook to a measles-affected family, who really need the money.

Regarding the criticism surrounding his post on Facebook, Mushfiqur said, ‘We have only one child. Ever since the outbreak of measles in the country, I have tried to be careful with my son. I thought my son would not have measles. But it happened. I have not mentioned any government name in my post. I want to say that the government or whoever was negligent in this matter should be properly investigated. If any error is found in the investigation, it should be punished. So that no one else can do something like this with children’s lives in the future.’

A day after Mushfiqur’s Facebook post, the World Health Organization (WHO) in a report rated the measles situation in Bangladesh as ‘high risk’ nationally. The organization has evaluated this in the light of the spread of infection in 58 districts out of 64 districts, large number of children affected, lack of immunity to the disease due to lack of vaccination and death due to measles symptoms.

The World Health Organization reports that 79 percent of hospitalized patients are children under the age of five; Of these, 66 percent were under two years of age and 33 percent were under 9 months of age. The report also cited 166 suspected deaths of children, most of whom were unvaccinated or partially immunized under the age of two.

The report also states that coverage of the first dose of measles vaccine increased from 89 percent in 2000 to 118 percent in 2016. After the second dose was introduced nationwide, it increased from 22 percent in 2012 to 121 percent in 2024. At this time, the rate of confirmed measles patients decreases. However, in 2024–25, MR1 and MR2 coverage declined again due to MR vaccine shortages, gaps in routine immunization and discontinuation of post-2020 supplementary programmes.

The Department of Health said on Saturday that 11 more children died in the country in the last 24 hours due to measles symptoms. 209 children have died of measles symptoms since March 15. During this period, 42 children died due to measles. The Department of Health has also mentioned that 4,460 children have been diagnosed with measles since March 15 this year.

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Mushfiqur was worried about the measles situation even before his son’s illness. Warned others in regular posts. Vaccination shortages, medical crises — wrote about everything.

Mushfiqur Rahman said that even before his son was infected with measles, he has been regularly posting about measles on Facebook and is still highlighting the situation of his own child as well as other children. On April 25, he visited a child suffering from measles at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogra and wrote in a post along with a video that there is no PICU for children in that hospital, which is disrupting the treatment of many children. In another post on the same day, he wrote that his son’s hospitalization is on its sixth day.

Mushfiqur is equally distressed not only for his own child but also for others. No PICU anywhere, no medical restrictions anywhere—this reality made him even more helpless.

On April 24, Mushfiqur Rahman wrote, the suffering of every child affected by measles is a sad story, whose parents are the sad witnesses. This suffering is hard to see or understand.

In that post, he also said that a 9-month-old baby with measles needed PICU. It was found after posting on Facebook, but the doctor said, as the child is in terminal condition, it is better not to spend unnecessarily. The child died on Sunday.

In another post on March 31, Mushfiqur Hame referred to the deaths of children as ‘murder and infanticide’. He demanded that the government which neglected its responsibility, was indifferent about vaccination should be brought under the law.

In a post on April 1, Mushfiqur Rahman reported the death of a child due to measles and asked parents to keep their children away from contact with others.

Referring to their anxiety for their son, Mushfiqur wrote in a post on April 3, ‘Your arrival in the world at a time when many children are suffering from measles. The parents are spending days and nights in a helpless condition in the hospital.

In that post, he wrote that they are also worried as parents due to the sound of their son’s cough, fever and measles.

In several posts, Mushfiqur stressed the importance of prosecuting those who were negligent about measles vaccination.

In spite of all the worries, there is now some news of relief. Mushfiqur said that his 7 months and 10 days old son Arham is doing very well now. Fever decreased, crying also decreased. Now playing with toys, laughing occasionally. But the nurse cries when she sees it. He will recover his son and return home – this is his thought now.

Mushfiqur is not forgetting about the health of his own child as well as other children. His last words should be said on behalf of all parents – ‘Not only my children, I want everyone’s health. All the children admitted to the hospital should get proper treatment, this is the request from the government.