The Right to Health project

This programme aimed to break down barriers to eye health for hard-to-reach communities in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Right to Health programme finished in 2021. It focused on restoring and protecting people’s sight, and ensuring health services were accessible for people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.

By addressing avoidable visual impairments, the programme, which was funded by the UK government through UK Aid Match, aimed to reduce poverty and contribute to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals.

 

2,375,767
people received treatment through the programme
85,828
people received cataract surgery
847,118
people accessed refractive error services

Why was it needed?

People living with disabilities in Bangladesh and Pakistan experience profound challenges. Disability exacerbates poverty for the whole family because of increased expenses, lack of income (due to caring responsibilities) and reduced opportunities (due to social exclusion).

In Bangladesh, for each person an estimated 10.1 years of health is lost as a result of disability; in Pakistan, this is 9.6 years (source: WHO and World Bank World Report on Disability). This is particularly acute for women and girls with disabilities, as they face additional challenges because of gender inequality.

This can be addressed through appropriately targeted health services and the development of approaches which include disability and gender considerations. The Right to Health programme aimed to contribute to building a society where all people can access services, and where lessons learned can affect other health areas, in line with the UK Department for International Development’s disability framework.

UK Aid logo.

How did it work?

Services were targeted to reach some of the most neglected and hardest-to-reach populations who were unlikely to benefit from standard health care services. The project was delivered in partnership with local partner eye care hospitals and ministries of health at national and district levels. To reach the most marginalised groups, the programme ran inclusive eye health screening camps, and targeted outreach was developed in collaboration with local disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), community-based organisations and self-help groups.

The programme ran in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions in Bangladesh, and Baluchistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan.

More from the project

Two women standing outside.
Sightsavers stories
Stories / Eye health /

Reaching Bangladesh’s transgender community

The transgender community often experiences discrimination and can find it hard to access healthcare. Meet some of the people who benefited from a Sightsavers eye health screening aimed at marginalised groups.