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The government will invest US$130 million over the next five years to improve eye health services and expand access to eye care across Bangladesh, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit said on Thursday.
He made the announcement while addressing a discussion marking World Sight Day 2026, organised jointly by the INGOs Forum and the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIO&H) at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.
The state minister said the investment would help take eye care services to people in every district and remote area of the country.
The funds will be used to train eye-care professionals, expand infrastructure and facilities, and ensure necessary treatment services, he said.
The government will also provide 10 million free cataract surgeries and 10 million pairs of spectacles nationwide, while bringing around 20 million people under primary eye-care services, Muhit said.
Schoolchildren will also be covered by the programme, including vision screening, provision of necessary spectacles and other eye-care services.
“Providing quality and affordable eye care at people’s doorsteps is one of the government’s priorities,” the state minister said, adding that the coverage of eye health services would be expanded further.
The discussion was chaired by Dr Syed Mahbub-ul Qadir, director of the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital.
Dr Munir Ahmed, country chair of the IAPB Bangladesh chapter and country director of Orbis International, OSB Secretary General Prof Md Jinnu Rain (Newton), OSB President Dr Md Towhidur Rahman and Helen Keller International programme head Dr Afsana Habib Shiuly, among others, attended the event.