Bangladesh is facing a mounting cataract crisis, with around 10 lakh patients awaiting surgery and more than 130,000 new cases added to the backlog each year, eye health experts said at a seminar in Dhaka today.
In a seminar marking Cataract Awareness Month 2026 (June), organised by the Bangladesh Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (BSCRS) at the Super Specialised Hospital of Bangladesh Medical University, experts cautioned that the number of new cases is rising faster than surgeries being performed, widening the treatment gap and raising fears of preventable blindness.
A shortage of skilled surgeons, coupled with rising caseloads, has contributed to the backlog. Unless surgical capacity is expanded, cataract-related blindness could worsen further, they said.
BSCRS Secretary General ASM Moin Uddin said Bangladesh currently has only one qualified cataract surgeon for every 833 patients awaiting surgery. Although the country has around 2,200 ophthalmologists, only about 1,200 actively perform cataract operations.
Bangladesh operates with four times fewer ophthalmic surgeons than recommended by international guidelines to successfully eliminate avoidable blindness, Moin Uddin said.
He said out of an estimated 40,000 blind children in the country, approximately 12,000 suffer from treatable, unoperated childhood cataracts.
He added that cataract remains the leading cause of blindness in the country, accounting for 79.6 percent of bilateral blindness cases, compared with 51 percent globally.
Prof Nazrul Islam, chairman of the Cataract Awareness Month Celebration Programme, stressed that new cases each year exceed the number of surgeries performed. He called for expanded surgical facilities and greater public awareness to prevent avoidable blindness.
SM Ziauddin Hyder, special assistant to the prime minister on health affairs, said the government is prioritising preventive and promotive healthcare over treatment-driven systems. Early detection and preventive measures can save many people from going blind, he said, adding that steps are being taken in this regard.
BSCRS President Showkat Kabir presided over the programme, while Prof Shahabuddin and Prof Touhidur Rahman, president of the Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh (OSB), also spoke.
