The government is preparing to launch a nationwide programme to provide free and subsidised cataract surgeries for around 10 lakh people who have lost their vision or are visually impaired due to untreated cataracts, State Minister for Health MA Muhit said today.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat after a meeting between Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Chief Executive Peter Holland, Muhit said restoring the eyesight of affected people is a government priority.

"The prime minister has taken this initiative very sincerely. We are preparing a major nationwide programme to provide free and affordable cataract surgery for these 10 lakh people," he said.

Muhit said the government has reduced tax on intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery in the current budget, a move expected to lower treatment costs and make the procedure more affordable for low-income patients.

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Photo: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

He also announced that Bangladesh will co-host the world's first Global Summit on Eye Health with Antigua in November this year after receiving the prime minister's approval.

The government is also planning to expand eye screening and provide spectacles to schoolchildren, particularly in rural areas, Muhit said.

Peter Holland said Bangladesh sponsored the first-ever UN resolution on vision and has continued to play a leading role in promoting eye health globally.