The Trust is working with the Fred Hollows Foundation, the Ministry of Health and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Barisal and Chittagong to bring high quality, affordable diabetic retinopathy screening and treatment services to all those who need them now and in the future by integrating them into Bangladesh’s public healthcare system.
One in every 13 person in Bangladesh has diabetes totaling to 7.1 million people. Experts say 1.5 million people are suffering from severe vision loss as a result of undiagnosed diabetes, know as diabetic retinopathy.
This number is set to double by 2030 and is a problem that The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is working very hard to counter in Bangladesh.
What is the current scenario of diabetes in Bangladesh?
Bangladesh has one of the highest rate of diabetes and diabetes related complications in the world including preventable blindness.
Once you get diabetes, it then starts affecting all your other organs like your eyes, feet and kidneys. They can all be treated if they are diagnosed in time. The problem is, a lot of people are unaware of the fact that diabetes can affect their other organs, so they do not get their eyes checked and end up losing their sight.
Our goal is encourage people with diabetes to understand that they are at a risk of going blind. In Barisal, there are quite facilities made by our programme so that people do not have to travel to Dhaka to get proper healthcare – which can also be very expensive. So now these people can be treated by the public health system.How long is your project set continue, and why did you choose Bangladesh?
We are a five-year-long project. We set up in 2012 to mark and celebrate the Queen’s 60 years of contribution to the Commonwealth. We were given a single mission for a five-year-long programme to transforms the lives of commonwealth citizens in order to leave a lasting legacy of the Queen.
So it’s important that everything we do, we do it to strengthen government’s delivery of healthcare. Because, that leaves a legacy which is strengthening the government healthcare system.
I think history will judge if we made a real difference in lives of people not only in Bangladesh, but right across the commonwealth. And we were able to stop a new generation of people from going blind. Our programme will end in 2020, so we are still sprinting to get the job done.What has been the progress in Bangladesh?
The great thing about working in the field of avoidable blindness is that, 80% of all blindness is avoidable and preventable. Four out of five people in this world don’t need to be blind. What we need to do is use simple technologies and simple interventions to stop this from happening.
If we can raise awareness on the issue as well as make sure we have practical solutions in place to help people, we will make a real difference. And I am satisfied with the progress of the programme.What are some of the challenges?
Challenges are everywhere, in every country. We have the challenges of obesity, increasing diabetes in the UK. I think the problems for Bangladesh that same for all of us. A healthy diet, exercise and not sitting in the car all the time is all we need to overcome those challenges. If we can prevent the onset of diabetes with those things then we do not even need a programme to treat blindness.What about the Queen’s Young Leaders programme in Bangladesh?
Extraordinary, such entrepreneurial skill, dynamism, commitment, we have a very impressive group of youths from Bangladesh. And their energy is amazing, they just do whatever it takes to get their work done.
