British Countess talks of need for partnership in fight against blindness
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
During the course of her three-day visit to Bangladesh, HRH The Countess of Wessex has been talking of the need for effective partnerships in order to win the fight against avoidable blindness in the country, said a press release.
Visiting Bangladesh in her capacity as Patron of Vision 2020: The Right To Sight, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020, the Countess' final engagement in Dhaka was to attend a meeting of the INGO Forum for Eye Care in Bangladesh to look at the progress of Vision 2020 to date and to discuss the role of the different stakeholders.
The Countess heard how achieving the goal of Vision 2020 in Bangladesh is only possible with the participation and cooperation of all stakeholders such as the Government of Bangladesh, NGOs and community investment programmes like Standard Chartered Bank's - Seeing is Believing.
Sight restoration procedures and blindness prevention strategies are among the most costeffective interventions in health care so increased investment in eye care can only result in a winwin situation.
The Countess met Health Minister Prof Ruhal Haque and discussed the present Government's strategy of bringing primary health services close to people by establishing 18, 000 'Community Clinics' (each for 6,000 of the population) all over the country. Dr Wahidul Islam, Sightsavers' Country Director in Bangladesh and Chair of the INGO Forum for Eye Care said: "We are honoured that HRH The Countess of Wessex has chosen to visit Bangladesh to lend her invaluable support to our concerted efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness."
Visiting Bangladesh in her capacity as Patron of Vision 2020: The Right To Sight, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020, the Countess' final engagement in Dhaka was to attend a meeting of the INGO Forum for Eye Care in Bangladesh to look at the progress of Vision 2020 to date and to discuss the role of the different stakeholders.
The Countess heard how achieving the goal of Vision 2020 in Bangladesh is only possible with the participation and cooperation of all stakeholders such as the Government of Bangladesh, NGOs and community investment programmes like Standard Chartered Bank's - Seeing is Believing.
Sight restoration procedures and blindness prevention strategies are among the most costeffective interventions in health care so increased investment in eye care can only result in a winwin situation.
The Countess met Health Minister Prof Ruhal Haque and discussed the present Government's strategy of bringing primary health services close to people by establishing 18, 000 'Community Clinics' (each for 6,000 of the population) all over the country. Dr Wahidul Islam, Sightsavers' Country Director in Bangladesh and Chair of the INGO Forum for Eye Care said: "We are honoured that HRH The Countess of Wessex has chosen to visit Bangladesh to lend her invaluable support to our concerted efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness."