With a population of over 160 million, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. As lush as it is chaotic, Bangladesh’s network of rivers means there are almost as many waterways as there are roads. This makes for a unique, vibrant and jam-packed corner of the world.
A brief introduction to Bangladesh
After a relatively brief yet horrific war with Pakistan, Bangladesh gained independence in 1971.
Since then, it has cut its poverty figures in half and made great improvements for its people.
The economy is growing rapidly and garment exports are the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy. However, there’s still substantial poverty in rural areas, alongside issues with inequality, poor infrastructure, corruption, insufficient power supplies and political instability.
Bangladesh is one of the lowest-lying countries in the world. Rivers that criss-cross the landscape make it prone to flooding during the monsoon season and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This frequent flooding brings huge devastation to rural livelihoods with damage to property and crops, not to mention sanitation issues that cause disease associated with eye health.
What are the eye health problems in Bangladesh?
Over half a million people in Bangladesh are blind from
cataract and the country has one of the highest reported rates of untreated cataract in the world.
Due to extreme poverty and a lack of awareness that cataract blindness is preventable and treatable, many people unnecessarily become and remain blind.
Diabetes is also an emerging public health problem. It can lead to
diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease which causes blindness if left untreated. Currently 1.54 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of diabetes-related blindness.
Another significant problem is that most eye care services in Bangladesh are based in major cities. This creates a large gap in available help when more than three quarters of the country's population live in rural areas.
There’s also a lack of trained professionals to provide screening and treatment, a shortage of appropriate equipment, and minimal facilities to meet demand.
People who are blind are less likely to go to school, work, or live independently.
Many more women than men are suffering from avoidable blindness due to issues of
gender inequality. When cataract blindness is treatable with straightforward and inexpensive surgery, it’s an injustice that modern eye care is yet to reach so many people in Bangladesh.
The Foundation’s programs in Bangladesh
We work to support those who need help the most: people in remote communities, those living in significant poverty, women, ethnic minority groups, the elderly, and transgender people.
The Foundation is helping to tackle avoidable blindness by working with the government and other NGOs to implement the government’s National Eye Care Plan.
When we started work in 2007, we were present in two districts. Now, we work in 24 districts and are able to reach 60 million people. As part of this plan, we’re working to better integrate eye health services at a community level and to increase overall government support.
More specifically, we’re focusing on training ophthalmologists, eye care nurses and other healthcare workers to build a sustainable workforce.
We’re also working with our partners to help raise general awareness of eye health and the help available. To complement this, we’re increasing our outreach screening and treatment services.
The Foundation's Bangladesh program receives partial support from the Australian Government through the
Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
We’re making significant progress
Thanks to some great work with our partners, we achieved a lot in some of our key strategic areas in 2021:
In-country programs
- Screened 322,794 people
- Performed 22,148 eye operations and treatments, including 22,126 cataract operations and 22 diabetic retinopathy treatments
- Distributed 13,946 pairs of glasses
Research, training and technology
- Trained 52 people, including 10 surgeons, 42 clinic support staff
- Educated 10,154 community members in eye health
- Renovated 17 and equipped 16 medical facilities