“My beloved child Falak has fallen asleep. He will never return”—grocery shop owner Md Sakibur Rahman from Kushtia Sadar shared the news of his son’s death from measles in this way on Facebook last Monday.

Falak’s full name was Mohammad Noman Falak. He was only eight months old. He had been admitted to Kushtia Medical College Hospital since 25 March. For two days in between, he was taken to a private hospital in Rajshahi and admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). In those two days alone, including travel from Kushtia, the total cost was Tk 50,000. Considering the expenses, his father readmitted him to Kushtia Medical College Hospital.

Falak’s father Sakibur Rahman told Prothom Alo over the phone on Monday that most medicines, saline, and syringes had to be purchased from outside. Including the two days at the private hospital, more than Tk 100,000 was spent on his son’s treatment. He could not even open his shop during the 19 days his son was hospitalised. The borrowed money will have to be repaid.

Like Sakibur Rahman, parents of children suffering from measles are struggling to manage expenses. Costs are lower in government hospitals. However, families incur much higher expenses when they have to move patients between multiple hospitals. Costs are even higher in private hospitals.