Interview
<i>Saving sight of urban poorest</i>
M Nurun Nabi, Coordinator, Dhaka Urban Comprehen-sive Eye Care Project
In Bangladesh more than 750,000 people are blind among 30+ population, of which 80% are due to cataract. According to official estimate, approximately 150,000 cataract patients are added every year. Over 6 million people in Bangladesh need vision correction by spectacles and other means. Approximately 150,000 irreversible blind require rehabilitation. It is a matter of concern that most of the visual impairment of these population can be restored by cataract surgery. To address these problems, Standard Chartered Bank funded Dhaka Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project (DUCECP) is working in Dhaka city with the technical support from Sightsavers International. The project has been working mainly for the extreme poor of Dhaka city and the services are offered almost free of cost. So far, the project has performed 45,000 cataract surgery and provided 400,000 ultra poor people with primary eye care. M Nurun Nabi, the project coordinator of DUCECP, who is a pro-people development activist says that they are continuously trying hard to reach the people who need their services the most; but still much more patients are left behind mainly due to lack of awareness about the common eye problems. He stressed that media can play a vital role reaching these poor people by conveying the messages and reducing misconception about eye problems. He urged all national media to bring the issue under focus and helping visually impaired people to get back their sight. Mr Nabi said, "It is not only the responsibility of the government, we all should come forward to save the rights of the poor people to see this beautiful world." DUCECP runs in four hospitals in Dhaka city — Islamia Eye Hospital, BNSB Dhaka Eye Hospital, Ad-din Hospital and Salauddin Specialised Hospital Ltd.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments