PRESS RELEASE - A Qatar Charity funded project in South-East Bangladesh, is tackling issues related to a low uptake of free and subsidised glasses due to a lack of awareness of eye health, especially when it comes to children. This work has led to a 430% plus increase in glasses being distributed in the last three months alone.
The project focuses on providing vital eye care services to Rohingya refugees, many of whom have never had access to eye care before their arrival in the country, accounting for a lack of knowledge on vision loss, alongside the local host population.
Within the project, it has been found that the frequency of conditions requiring glasses for children is high, but the uptake of glasses was low – only 12% of prescribed glasses were provided in Q2 of this year.
A lack of glasses can impact a child’s education and can lead to headaches and dropping out of school. Orbis has been working with their local partners to learn about what was creating barriers. These included a limited understanding of eye health, time to travel to a vision centre - which in a poverty-stricken area can have implications on a person’s earnings - and perceived costs.
Tactics have included increased education for parents on the importance of wearing glasses, distributing glasses when they are prescribed where possible, so an additional pick-up visit is not necessary, and visiting child friendly spaces within the world’s largest refugee camp, returning several days later to ensure there is no follow up required at the local vision centre.
Since Qatar Charity’s support of the project began in April 2022, over 100,000 vision screenings have been conducted, almost 7,500 glasses prescribed to adults and children and 1,996 surgeries carried out for conditions such as cataracts.
Mr. Yousuf bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari, CEO of Qatar Charity, expressed his delight with the impactful collaboration with Orbis in Bangladesh. He stated:
“We are proud to support this essential project in vulnerable communities facing barriers to eye care and believe all should have access to quality eye health services, regardless of their circumstances. We are committed to addressing issues like low eye health awareness and limited access to glasses, particularly for children. Together with Orbis, we strive to continue our efforts to create a lasting impact on the lives of Rohingya refugees and the local host population.”
Rebecca Cronin, CEO, Orbis UK continued: “Every location we work in is different and each will have a unique set of challenges for delivering eye health services. Our partners in South-East Bangladesh have worked incredibly hard to ensure there are not only services available to the Rohingya and local host community, but that there is trust in the treatments being prescribed and offered. It is always important to assess outcomes and to adapt to ensure we can have maximum impact on the communities in which we work.
“Qatar Charity’s funding is bringing vision loss services to a community that has already been through so much, in addition to the local host community. We’re incredibly grateful for their ongoing support.”
Orbis’s mission is to use their generous network of partners, supporters, staff and expert medical volunteers to empower local communities with the skills and resources needed to fight blindness on their own - so that they can continue to save and restore vision in their communities for years to come.
