Fight for a Girls’ Right to Sight

Did you know two out of three children who are blind are girls? Unfortunately, that’s because in countries like Bangladesh, the healthcare needs of boys are often prioritised over the needs of girls.

Around the world, 112 million more women than men live with vision loss, including blindness. This gender blindness gap stops women and girls going to school, living independent lives and being able to realise their potential. Sadly, the barriers to women accessing healthcare are all too common:

1) Lack of awareness - lower literacy rates among women drives a lack of awareness around eye care, making it harder to reach women with healthcare messaging.

2) Gender inequality in communities where men are traditionally the breadwinners, the healthcare of men and boys are often prioritised.

3) Cultural norms - Women and girls are often unable to travel without a man in certain countries. They may also feel uncomfortable when a male carries out examinations, which leads to hesitance when needing eye care treatment.

At Orbis, to improve the quality of eye care, gender is a key focus for all our programmes including, Flying Eye Hospital projects and training projects.

Read more to see about how Orbis is making an impact in Bangladesh to women and girls.

Women Led Green Vision Centres

Before Orbis established vision centres in Chandpur, Bangaldesh, many people were unable to access affordable eye care treatment. With the closest hospital around 30 kilometers away and and most people not financially stable to afford the travel or treatments.

Having a centre run by women has made a huge difference. Women can now visit the centre alone for their own or their children's treatment, Mahfuza’s mother, who came in to get her daughter screened, said “Speaking to a female doctor [MLOP] at the hospital made me a lot more comfortable with discussing my daughter’s eye problems’.

Haimchar Vision Center is located on the island sub-district of Haimchar in Chandpur district, about 30 kilometres from the district headquarters. The centre provides eye screenings and primary eye care to local residents and people from nearby sub-districts. Most of the patients have low-incomes and cannot afford treatment elsewhere. The centre, established in 2022, which is run by Mazharul Haque BNSB Eye Hospital in Chandpur, is a ‘woman-led green vision centre’ meaning it is headed by a female mid-level ophthalmic personnel. As these rural areas are prone to frequent power shortages, the centres are run on solar power to ensure uninterrupted service for patients, in addition to being more cost-effective and better for the environment.

The centre, as of 2024 has served a total of 8,914 patients and arranged surgery on 397 others at the BNSB hospital, has earned the trust of local people as a dependable eye care facility.

  • 63,897 PATIENTS WERE SCREENED

    BY OUR THREE WOMEN-LED GREEN VISION CENTRES IN CHANDPUR

  • 54% OF THOSE SCREENED

    WERE WOMEN AND GIRLS

  • 7,236 PAIRS OF

    GLASSES WERE PROVIDED

Mahfuza's Struggle With Cataracts

Q& A With Tasmia From Haimchar Vision Centre

Tasmia is a 26-year-old Mid-level Ophthalmic Personnel (MLOP) who runs the Haimchar Vision Centre, in Chandpur. Tasmia provides primary eye care and is responsible for screening patients who come into the centre. Patients who require further treatment, then have a consultation over the phone with doctors who work at the BNSB hospital. Those who are in a more severe situation, are also referred to the hospital.

Q. What does a day look like for you at the vision centre?

A. Every day, I wake up early in the morning, do my prayers, prepare some food and leave for my office. At the office, I start the day by checking all the equipment. And one by one the patients start to come in and we start providing primary treatment. I go back home at noon and bathe, eat and rest. I also feed and bathe my son. Every week a day is reserved for screening. On other days, patients come straight to the centre, and we provide primary treatment here.

The vision centre is open six days a week and we serve roughly 18-20 patients every day. Cataracts, conjunctivitis, watery eyes, injury and foreign body are a few of the problems that our patients come with. We also get some patients with glaucoma but for them we arrange tele-consultancy sessions or refer them to the BNSB hospital.

Q. Do some patients travel quite far to get to this vision centre?

A. Yes, some patients from far away do come to the vision centre to receive treatment. We do not have any limitation as to which area’s people we provide our screening and treatment to. Anybody from anywhere can come and we will provide quality screening and treatment.

Q. What impact has Orbis had on you, your career and your ability to do your job?

A. What I am now is all thanks to Orbis’s training. Due to the training Orbis gave me, I can now head this vision centre and help the people of this area. Without the training, it would be impossible for me to do my job successfully. The training is what made me qualify for this job. I want to keep receiving training in different subjects and enhance my skills.

Q. Why are women-led centres like this so important?

A. Women-led vision centres are important because people in these rural areas are not comfortable speaking openly with a man. But they can say everything in detail to a woman. These open discussions help provide the patients with proper treatment. Even if a man was to go house-to-house for screening, women would feel uncomfortable to come and discuss their issues with him. But for women-led centres, we can go for screening and every woman and child feels comfortable to share their problems. We can enter people’s houses and go close to them for better screening. But it would not be acceptable to women if it was a man conducting the screening and that is why women-led centres are so important.

Q. Do you think more women and girls are seeking treatment as a result? If so, how does that make you feel?

A. Yes, I do. We, at the vision centre, have been able to earn their trust, thus attracting a growing number of patients. It gives me a feeling that we have been able to make a positive contribution to society.

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