'One eye specialist for every 2 lakh people in Bangladesh'

Orbis Flying Eye Hospital Director Drew Boshell speaks at a press conference in Chittagong yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

The ratio of ophthalmologists and population in Bangladesh is 1:200,000, which means that there is only one eye expert for every two lakh people in the country.

Dr M Khairul Islam, country director of Orbis in Bangladesh, disclosed this at a press briefing and said 300 ophthalmologists, out of around 700, are stationed in four big cities.

Quoting a 2003 survey jointly conducted by a UK-based medical institute and the National Institute of Ophthalmology in Bangladesh, Dr Khairul said 1.53 percent of the population aged over 30 years have been suffering from blindness.

The press briefing was held on the occasion of the second visit of Orbis Flying Eye Hospital in the port city to launch a two-week humanitarian mission titled "Orbis Plane Programme Chittagong-2005".

The objective of the Orbis mission is to provide expertise and knowledge to the local ophthalmologists and nurses side by side with practical training through giving direct treatment to local patients suffering from complicated eye diseases.

The DC-10 aircraft-turned-flying hospital with necessary apparatus for ophthalmology treatment and surgery flew in here from Ethiopia on Thursday.

The two-week programme starting on Sunday is the Orbis's 9th Plane Programme in Bangladesh as part of their worldwide humanitarian mission in the field of ophthalmology.

"We hope that we will in two weeks have a better understanding of blindness and an increased capacity of our hosts to address issues related to the treatment and prevention of blindness," said Drew Boshell, director of Flying Eye Hospital.

The press conference was also addressed by Chairman of the Orbis Plane Programme Organising Committee Dr Rabiul Hossain, Dr Gordon Douglas, and President of Ophthalmologic Society of Bangladesh (OSB) Dr S M Tareq.

The Chittagong Eye Infirmary and Training Complex (CEITC) and the OSB, Chittagong chapter, are co-sponsoring the programme with the support of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Besides treatment and carrying out surgery on some select patients, the Orbis team will hold training, lectures, symposia, computerised simulator and surgical demonstrators for 150 participants, including 64 ophthalmologists of the country.

A multi-national staff team of Orbis from the USA, the UK and Ireland will conduct the programme that includes surgical management of corneal diseases, cornea transplantation, diabetic retinal condition and peadiatric cataract and squint.

"Unfortunately unnecessary blindness is often not been seen as a priority and, as a result, over 27 million people in the world today are blind because of lack of treatment and awareness," Drew Boshell said, adding that Bangladesh has one of the highest rate of blindness in the world."

"This is what we want to change and we are also striving to reach the WHO Vision 2020 Objectives of eradicating unnecessary blindness", he said.

Dr Rabiul Hossain said most of the eye-related diseases become complicated due to lack of awareness and early treatment.

He said the media and other public and private organisations could play a vital role in creating awareness among the people.