GP organizes free eye camp

Grameenphone, jointly with Sightsavers International, organized a free Eye Camp at the Intervida School, Madhab Nagar, Tumulia, Kaliganj, Gazipur on Wednesday, says a press release.

This is the 15th free eye camp organized jointly by Grameenphone and Sightsavers International. Through these camps, conducted in rural parts of Bangladesh where people have little or no access to quality healthcare, Grameenphone aims to provide free eye-care services to the economically disadvantaged people of the area. Islamia Eye Hospital was the local partner in this eye camp.

Ms. Zahida Ispahani, Advisor, Islamia Eye Hospital, Arkanul Islam, Manager, Grameenphone and Rafiqul Islam, Sr. Program Manager, Sightsavers International were present at the camp. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Zahida Ispahani expressed her appreciation of the initiative undertaken by Grameenphone.

The turn-out of patients was quite high, with more than 1079 patients arriving for care at the Intervida School. All patients were given routine examinations and prescriptions for refractive error were given to those who required it. Among them 162 patients were referred for and administered Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) or cataract surgeries.

In the previous 14 camps, 22,655 patients received free eye-care support and 2,641 cataract surgeries were performed. Bangladesh has the highest number of blind people compared to its population. One of the Major challenges in combating this blindness is to reach the underserved rural population who constitutes 80% of the country's population, as the vast majority of eye care services are based in the big cities only."Health" is one of the key focus areas where Grameenphone has consolidated its social investments. For this, Grameenphone is committed to work with Bangladesh Government and other development agencies to make every life count and is focused on improving basic healthcare service quality, developing infrastructure and ensuring access to healthcare for all.