04 August 2013, Dhaka. BRAC and National Eye Care- Directorate General of Health Services (NEC-DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have launched the second phase of the eye care project- Vision Bangladesh. The launching ceremony was held on the 4th August, 2013 at BRAC Centre auditorium.
In two and a half years of Vision Bangladesh Phase-I, about 95 per cent of the target of 100,000 cataract surgeries and 200,000 refractive error corrections have been achieved. Moreover, with the aid of frontline community health workers, BRAC has been able to deliver eye care at the doorstep of one million people across Sylhet division.
Based on the enormous success of that partnership and lessons learned in operating in rural areas, BRAC is now going to expand the eye care services in the slums of 10 city corporations of Bangladesh, covering an estimated 7.25 million people.
This project, which will run from July 2013 to December 2015, is aligned with Bangladesh Government’s national goal of eliminating avoidable blindness from Bangladesh by 2020.It will be implemented through a partnership approach and will foster collaboration between BRAC, NEC-DGHS, and other partner organizations including NGOs and hospitals. This project will develop capacity of the eye care providers and institutions; deliver eye care services and establish and sustain referral networks between the slum community and functional government hospital/private/NGO facilities for eye care.
Prof. Dr. A.F.M Ruhal Haque MP, Honourable Minister, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), attended the ceremony as the Chief Guest. Prof. Syed Modasser Ali, Advisor to the Honourable Prime Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Dr. Capt. (Rtd.) Mozibur Rahman Fakir MP, Honourable State Minister, MoHFW, attended as Special Guests. The event was chaired by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, BRAC.
The Minister said, “The effective leadership in National Eye Care and BRAC’s widespread network of frontline community health workers would equate to the certain success of this project.”
Prof. Syed Modasser Ali pointed out that the immense success of Sir Fazle in implementing a diverse range of development projects is the indicator that this project will also be a success.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed said, “BRAC and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have been involved in a number of partnerships for a long time to provide a range of healthcare services, including eye care.” He emphasised on scaling up Vision Bangladesh project across the country to eliminate cataract backlog by 2020.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by Dr. Prof. Deen Md. Nurul Huq, Line Director, National Eye Care and Director cum Professor NIO&H and Dr. Kaosar Afsana, Director, Health Nutrition and Population Programme, BRAC.
