<i>'Low vision leads to 60 deaths per 10,000 accidents'</i>
A bus driver has his eyes checked by doctors at a camp at Mohakhali bus terminal yesterday. Poor vision of drivers is blamed for many road mishaps in the country. Dhaka Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project organised the free eye check-up to mark World Sight Day. Photo: Shawkat Jamil
Speakers at a free eye care camp yesterday said 60 people die in every 10,000 road accidents in Bangladesh which is mainly caused by, among others, low vision and refractive errors.
Dhaka Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project (DUCECP) organised the camp for transport vehicle drivers, supervisors and helpers in the city's Mohakhali Bus Terminal marking World Sight Day 2011.
Inaugurating the camp as the chief guest, lawmaker Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said improved eye care services for transport workers could help reduce road accidents significantly.
He stressed the need for more of such eye care camps in different bus terminals, says a DUCECP press release.
Prof Deen Mohammad Noorul Haque, line director, National Eye Care; Dr Wahidul Islam, country director, Sightsavers, Bangladesh Country Office; Zahida Ispahani, advisor, Islamia Eye Hospital; and Al-Hajj Mohammad Sadiqur Rahman Hiru also spoke on the occasion.
The programme was moderated by M Nurun Nabi, project coordinator, DUCECP. Islamia Eye Hospital provided the technical support.
More than 1,170 transport workers were provided free eye care services and 220 free spectacles for refractive error correction. A significant number of patients were referred to Islamia Eye Hospital for cataract operation.
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