A key part of our work in Bangladesh involves working with the displaced Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. Since 2018, working with our local partners, we have provided eye screenings and surgeries to prevent avoidable blindness. Orbis were the first charity to set up a vision centre within the refugee camp, saving the sight of many displaced people.
Charity in Bangladesh: Fighting Blindness
Orbis started its journey in Bangladesh in 1985 when the Flying Eye Hospital first touched down. Working with local partners, Orbis established a Bangladesh charity action, focusing on eye disease prevention and sight restoration within rural areas of Bangladesh.
Avoidable Blindness in Bangladesh
With around only 1,200 ophthalmologists, Bangladesh faces daunting challenges in delivering quality eye care to its population of 173 million people. Across the country, 950,000 people live with blindness.
For the many people living in rural areas, eye care is especially hard to access.
Cataracts, refractive error, retinopathy of prematurity and diabetic retinopathy are all key causes of vision loss in Bangladesh.
950,000
people are living with blindness
27 million
people have vision loss
Only 1,200
ophthalmologists to serve 173 million people
“I feel fortunate to treat the Rohingya community”
The refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh began six years ago. Having fled persecution from their homeland, Myanmar, over 1 million stateless Rohingya now live in the world’s largest refugee camp.
Dr Saiful Islam has been on the front line in Cox's Bazar from the start. Helping protect the Rohingya community from avoidable blindness.
Dr Saiful Islam has been on the front line in Cox's Bazar from the start. Helping protect the Rohingya community from avoidable blindness.
Supporting Rohingya Refugees
Since Orbis began working in Cox’s Bazar in 2018, the organisation and its partners have completed 569,374 eye screenings, performed 13,679 surgeries and provided 25,267 pairs of glasses.
A 2019 Orbis survey carried out among the Rohingya and host communities in Cox’s Bazar showed an extremely high demand for eye care services across all ages.
The survey found that over a third of children aged 5-11 years, and nearly two thirds of those over 60, needed some form of eye care treatment. Among the Rohingya and host population, the majority of vision loss is due to refractive error and cataract - problems that can usually be rectified with glasses and straightforward, effective surgery.
Our Charity Work in Bangladesh
Over the years with the help of our supporters and local partners we have:
- Worked with the government, WHO and NGOs to integrate eye care for the displaced Rohingya community in Cox's Bazar
- Equipped 400 community clinics with vision screening equipment
- Established and strengthened 7 Retinopathy of Prematurity centres to improve services
- Set up 9 centres for Diabetic Retinopathy screening at district hospitals
- Established a digital training hub
Closing the gender gap in eye care across Bangladesh
Globally, women and girls are more likely than men or boys to be blind or suffer from sight loss. For many this can be due to limited financial resources, an inability to travel long distances unaccompanied in some cultures and a lack of women providing eye care. These barriers lead to 112 million more women and girls living with vision loss.
Impact In 2023
73,248
eye screenings carried out
1,241
cataract surgeries conducted
56%
of patients screened at Orbis' Women-Led Green Vision Centres were women and girls
What's Next?
Orbis is working with partners to:
- Strengthen the four existing Paediatric Eye Care Centres to provide surgery
- Strengthen community and facility-based primary eye care services
- Promote eye care for all with a focus on women, girls, people with disability, and displaced populations, including Rohingya refugees
- Strengthen service delivery of local eye care teams through an integrated approach and simulation-based training
- Generate evidence through program data and research to improve quality, policy and for use in advocacy
Watch: Empowering women through Green Vision Centers
Donate to Bangladesh and help support our sight saving work!
Donate Now