Shawdesh Desk:

Expressing Bangladesh’s support for the UN Special Envoy on Vision and a Global Eye Health Summit in 2026, foreign minister Hasan Mahmud has reaffirmed that Bangladesh would continue to play its leadership role in the global fight against vision impairment and blindness.

He emphasised the critical need for further investments in making public infrastructures accessible to visually impaired people, as well as to improve educational materials and digital literacy training.

The foreign minister called for universal access to eye health services at a side event organised by the UN group of Friends of Vision in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda recently, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a message.

The event highlighted the need to address inequities in eye care access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Hasan highlighted Bangladesh’s leadership, together with Antigua and Barbuda and Ireland, in adopting the historic United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Vision for Everyone, in 2021 with the aim to improve global eye care for everyone.

Underscoring Bangladesh’s success under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said that the nation has made significant strides, having established 200 Community Eye Centres, with plans for an additional 250 by 2029.

‘Our long-term plan is to provide basic eye care services through our prime minister’s flagship initiative of more than 14,500 community clinics,’ the foreign minister added.

Bangladesh is one of the co-chairs of the United Nations Group of Friends on Vision.

This high-level side event was organised on the margin of the 4th international conference on the Small Island Developing States.

The foreign minister is leading the Bangladesh delegation at the conference.