Around 35,00 get back sight over last 5 years in city****

Around 35,000 eyes got back sight under the Dhaka Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project (DUCECP) over the last five years in the city, reports UNB. Shefali, a 50-year-old widow with four children, was about to become blind due to bi-lateral cataract. But after cataract surgery under the DUCECP, she got back her eyesight. Like Shefali, a large number of the poor in Dhaka city who underwent cataract surgery free of cost under the DUCECP has gained a new lease of life. According to the DUCECP, the project began operation in November 2005 with a view to providing eye-care service to the poor city dwellers. About 35,000 impoverished people have got back their sight through the project until April 2011. During the period, around 33,000 cataract surgeries were performed and some 208,814 eye patients examined under the project. Project Coordinator M Nurun Nabi said the slums are providing shelter for around four million people in metropolis Dhaka, who lead subhuman life deprived of many basic human rights. Sightsavers and Standard Chartered Bank are providing support to the project which primarily offer free eye treatment to the slum-dwellers in the capital. The project to run until 2013 is being carried out with the help of four hospitals -- Islamia Eye Hospital, BNSB Dhaka Eye Hospital, Ad-din Hospital and Salauddin Specialised Hospital Limited. About the blindness scenario of the country, Bangladesh Blindness and Low Vision Survey report revealed that over 750,000 people (among 30+ years) are blind in Bangladesh. Of them, about 650,000 suffer from cataract (79.6 per cent). About 150,000 new cases of cataract are added each year in the country.