‘Coordinated care needed to prevent eye diseases’

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain has called for coordinated awareness programmes and joint initiatives to protect people’s eye health, saying that expanding medical services alone is not enough.

“Expanding medical services alone is not enough to protect people’s eye health across the country; rather, coordinated and multifaceted awareness programmes are essential,” he said.

He made the remarks while addressing a workshop titled “Review and Finalisation of the Multisectoral Action Plan for Eye Health in Bangladesh” as the chief guest at a hotel in the capital, according to a press release.

Additional Secretary of the Health Services Division ANM Moinul Islam chaired the workshop.

Calling for cooperation from stakeholders beyond the health sector, Sakhawat said preventing eye diseases required an integrated approach to wider health risks, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and kidney diseases.

He urged people to remain aware of their health and take regular care of themselves. The government alone could not ensure everyone’s health protection, he said, stressing the need to raise awareness at all levels.

The minister said diabetes increased the risk of damage to the eyes and kidneys, as well as heart disease and stroke. He also noted that cataract surgery remained costly for many people.

He urged physicians to work together to protect eye health through disease prevention and early detection.

Sakhawat said diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, eye diseases and kidney diseases were closely linked.

Treating them separately through individual medical interventions would not be enough to ensure overall health protection, he added.

Instead, he called for coordinated treatment and preventive measures.

The minister also proposed forming effective groups or platforms involving specialist physicians from different medical disciplines.

Such platforms could help raise public awareness, prevent diseases and improve access to healthcare services, he said.

He added that joint initiatives would help people identify serious health risks at an early stage, including diabetes-related damage to the kidneys and eyes and strokes linked to high blood pressure.