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HRH The Countess of Wessex visits Bangladesh to witness fight against avoidable blindness

31 March 2009

HRH The Countess of Wessex is visiting Dhaka from 23-25 March in her capacity as Patron of Vision 2020: The Right To Sight, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness.The Countess is in Bangladesh as a guest of the disability agency Sightsavers International and Standard Chartered Bank. Over the course of three days, she will be looking at the progress that is being made in Dhaka with regards to delivering eye care services to some of the hardest to access communities in the city. She will also meet with Professor Ruhul Haque, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, as well as leading representatives from international eye care agencies operating in Bangladesh.

Through its community investment programme Seeing Is Believing, Standard Chartered Bank has pledged to continue its existing partnership with Sightsavers to strengthen eye care facilities in Bangladesh by investing USD one million over five years in the Dhaka Urban Comprehensive Eye Care project (DUCEC). Initiated in 2003 and driven by the Bank's employees, Seeing is Believing is helping to tackle avoidable blindness, 90 per cent of which is found in the developing world where the bank's business is rooted.

The services provided as a result of Seeing Is Believing will be comprehensive, delivering community eye health education and awareness-raising, together with a range of interventions, from spectacle provision, to surgery according to need. The services will also be sustainable, designed to support marginalised and excluded populations both now and in the future.

According to Shah Masud Imam, Regional Head of Corporate Affairs at Standard Chartered in Bangladesh: "Avoidable blindness is a major problem in many of our markets and it is not just a health issue; it is also an economic issue, depriving those affected of education and a job, and often rendering them economically dependent. The consequences are highly detrimental to families and communities, deprived of the productivity of both the cared for and the carers."

An estimated 750,000 people are blind in the country yet 80% of all blindness is due to cataract which can be treated easily and cost-effectively. There are 150,000 new cataract cases each year, creating a huge backlog of untreated cases which Seeing Is Believing, Sightsavers and partners are working to address. Refractive error is the second leading cause of blindness in Bangladesh – over 400,000 people have low vision and six million could be helped through vision correction such as something as simple as a pair of glasses. Additionally, there are 40,000 children who are blind, with 3000 new children with bilateral cataract adding each year.

Seeing Is Believing's implementing partner Sightsavers International has been working in Bangladesh with local partners since 1973 to bring eye care within reach of the poorest communities, and has helped to develop services for people who are irreversibly blind, as well as ensuring children who are visually impaired have access to a quality education.

Dr Wahidul Islam, Sightsavers' Country Director in Bangladesh, commented: "Blindness and poverty are inextricably linked. People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed and tend to have fewer opportunities to access a quality education. We hope that the visit by HRH The Countess of Wessex will inspire the Government of Bangladesh and all key stakeholders to redouble their efforts when it comes to ensuring eye care for all."

Photo Details: HRH The Countess of Wessex meeting eight-year-old Jonaki at Islamia Eye Hospital this morning. Jonaki was operated on at Islamia for cataract in her left eye on Saturday.