Eye treatment for the poor

The President M Abdul Hamid struck the right chord when he urged Thursday that the Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh (OSB) to provide eye treatment facilities for the poor and distressed people across the country. In Bangladesh patients of eye diseases of different nature are increasing and a lot of people with eye treatable eyes problems are getting blind simply because they do not have enough means to get their eye problems solved.

Recent statistics on eye patients is hard to come by. According to an estimate of some years ago, 1.4 million children under age 15 are blind in Bangladesh, yet experts in the field are of the opinion that approximately half of all childhood blindness can be avoided by treating diseases early and by correcting abnormalities such as cataract and glaucoma at birth.

Still, another estimate tells us approximately 120,000 cataract patients are added every year. Over six million people in Bangladesh need vision correction by spectacles and other means. Moreover, approximately 150,000 irreversible blind require rehabilitation. There are about 40,000 visually impaired women and children in Bangladesh, of whom an estimated 12,000 have cataract. These figures must be more now and this should alarm us all as most of these patients do not have means to take care of their eyes properly.

In bigger cities, especially in Dhaka, there are some private facilities where the poor people can have free eye treatment with nominal prices for glasses. But this is not true in rural areas where eye treatment is costly and the poor patients suffer for their eye ailments. That is why it is necessary to conduct eye camps at different places of the country and the OSB can play a major role in this regard.

Conducting camp and campaign can go together, because in all diseases awareness is the key in prevention and right awareness about a disease can prevent serious consequences of that disease. Therefore, conducting free eye camps and campaign on eye diseases especially in rural areas can be of great benefit for the disadvantaged people. In the free camps, cataract surgery, vision tests, free medicine and even free spectacles can be provided to the poor patients so that their lives do not remain or turn miserable.

But time has now come to establish public eye care centres in each upazila of the country so that the poor eye patients get their eye problems treated readily.   

 

Eye treatment for the poor

The President M Abdul Hamid struck the right chord when he urged Thursday that the Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh (OSB) to provide eye treatment facilities for the poor and distressed people across the country. In Bangladesh patients of eye diseases of different nature are increasing and a lot of people with eye treatable eyes problems are getting blind simply because they do not have enough means to get their eye problems solved. Recent statistics on eye patients is hard to come by. According to an estimate of some years ago, 1.4 million children under age 15 are blind in Bangladesh, yet experts in the field are of the opinion that approximately half of all childhood blindness can be avoided by treating diseases early and by correcting abnormalities such as cataract and glaucoma at birth. Still, another estimate tells us approximately 120,000 cataract patients are added every year. Over six million people in Bangladesh need vision correction by spectacles and other means. Moreover, approximately 150,000 irreversible blind require rehabilitation. There are about 40,000 visually impaired women and children in Bangladesh, of whom an estimated 12,000 have cataract. These figures must be more now and this should alarm us all as most of these patients do not have means to take care of their eyes properly. In bigger cities, especially in Dhaka, there are some private facilities where the poor people can have free eye treatment with nominal prices for glasses. But this is not true in rural areas where eye treatment is costly and the poor patients suffer for their eye ailments. That is why it is necessary to conduct eye camps at different places of the country and the OSB can play a major role in this regard. Conducting camp and campaign can go together, because in all diseases awareness is the key in prevention and right awareness about a disease can prevent serious consequences of that disease. Therefore, conducting free eye camps and campaign on eye diseases especially in rural areas can be of great benefit for the disadvantaged people. In the free camps, cataract surgery, vision tests, free medicine and even free spectacles can be provided to the poor patients so that their lives do not remain or turn miserable. But time has now come to establish public eye care centres in each upazila of the country so that the poor eye patients get their eye problems treated readily.