Jumbangla Desk: Chief Advisor of the Interim Government. Derek Hodki, President and CEO of Orbis International, met with Yunus. At the same time, the Chief Advisor spoke of Bangladesh's interest in working and collaborating with the non-profit organization Orbis International to expand eye care and services in the country.
Derek is visiting Bangladesh as part of a training program at Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, a press release said on Friday (November 22). Now training is going on in Chittagong. Derek last Wednesday (November 20) in the capital. He met Yunus in his office.
Orbis Bangladesh Country Director Dr. Munir Ahmed was with Derek during the meeting with the Chief Advisor. Orbis President presented a model version of the Flying Eye Hospital to the Chief Advisor. Dr. Yunus praised it highly.
Derek briefed the Chief Advisor on Orbis International's work. Orbis started a global vision-saving program in 1982. Orbis has been working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Bangladesh for the past 39 years.
So far, Orbis has conducted more than 7.8 million eye screenings at community outreach events, provided medication and optical treatment to more than 4.5 million adults and children, performed more than 258,000 eye surgeries and more than 40,000 people in Bangladesh, Derek said. Educated people on eye care.
Dr. Yunus acknowledged Orbis' contribution to the eye health sector in Bangladesh and expressed his gratitude to the Flying Eye Hospital. Orbis is now conducting its 11th training program in Bangladesh.
Dr. Yunus said, 'I love Orbis. I love Flying Eye Hospital.' He mentioned that Orbis is one of the organizations playing a role in the eye health sector in Bangladesh.
Derek said Orbis is implementing vision preservation programs in more than two hundred countries and territories worldwide to help individuals, families and communities.
Noting that nearly one billion people around the world live with completely avoidable blindness and vision loss, Derek said, "For more than four decades, Orbis has been addressing this challenge with strong and sustainable eye care systems."
The Orbis president said the non-profit organization is running special programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, providing training and applying technology.
He said that over the past four decades, Orbis has helped improve the skills and knowledge of its local partners in Bangladesh, focusing on pediatric eye care, microsurgery, retinal surgery, corneal disease, retinopathy of prematurity and diabetic retinopathy.
Derek further informed the Chief Advisor that Orbis has engaged the people with eye care by setting up 42 vision care centers across the country, especially in rural areas; Helped establish or improve 17 secondary hospitals, four tertiary hospitals, two wet labs, one quality resource center and one digital training hub.
In addition, Orbis has equipped 400 community clinics with vision screening tools and developed Bangladesh's first national guidelines for the screening and management of retinopathy of prematurity, a leading cause of childhood blindness.
