Govt will provide improved eye-care services to 20 million people next 5 years: State Minister Muhit

The government has aimed to provide improved primary eye-care services to at least 20 million people within the next five years as part of its five-year commitments to address blindness and visual impairment.

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit disclosed the plan while speaking at a discussion, organised on Thursday (8 October) in the capital to mark World Sight Day 2026, as the chief guest.

He said the government has decided to integrate primary eye care into primary healthcare and take it across the country, particularly reaching people in underserved communities, schools and workplaces such as garment factories.

“Through vision screening and treatment, we want to improve people’s productivity, ability to work and income,” he added.

The state minister said the government would also establish a proper referral network and identify referral hospitals so that patients detected through screening and early diagnosis can receive appropriate treatment.

As part of the five commitments, the government will offer spectacles to 10 million people, including schoolchildren, provide cataract surgery to at least one million people, impart training to at least 80 percent of ophthalmologists, and develop a National Eye Health Strategic Plan to ensure that these programmes are sustainable in the long term.

Muhit called the commitments, which will be placed at the Global Summit for Eye Health next month, a major success.

He, however, said: “I know that reaching millions of people with eye-care services, providing spectacles to 10 million people and conducting one million cataract surgeries will not be easy. But the enthusiasm, unity, scientific knowledge and evidence-based approach demonstrated by everyone working in this sector give me confidence that we can achieve these goals.”

National Institution of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIO&H) and Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh (OSB) jointly organised the discussion with the support of INGO Forum in Eye Health.

NIO&H Director Dr Syeed Mehbub Ul Kadir, IAPB Country Chair (Bangladesh Chapter) and Orbis International Country Director Dr Munir Ahmed, OSB President Dr Md Tauhidur Rahman and Secretary General Prof Md Ninnu Rain (Newton), INGO Forum Chair and Sightsavers Country Director Amrita Rejina Rozario, and VisionSpring Managing Director Misha Mahjabeen, among others, spoke at the discussion.

In his speech, Dr Munir Ahmed said all the stakeholders in eye health need to work together in a coordinated way under the guidance of the state minister for health and family welfare to expand eye care. He said the commitment made at the highest level of government clearly shows that eye health has been recognised as an important part of Bangladesh’s national development agenda.

Dr Munir said international NGOs working in Bangladesh are trying to revive the Bangladesh National Council for the Blind.

He emphasised the need for establishing strong leadership and accountability in the eye-care sector. “Without an accountable leadership structure, it will be difficult to establish an effective system, no matter how much work we do,” he said.