The Right to Health
This programme aims to break down barriers to eye health for hard-to-reach communities in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Right to Health programme focuses on restoring and protecting people’s sight, and ensuring health services are accessible for people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.
By addressing avoidable visual impairments, the programme, which is funded by the UK government through UK Aid Match, aims to reduce poverty and contribute to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals.
Why is 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 aims 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.
How does it work?
Services are targeted to reach some of the most neglected and hardest-to-reach populations who are unlikely to benefit from standard health care services. The project is 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 runs inclusive eye health screening camps, and targeted outreach is developed in collaboration with local disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), community-based organisations and self-help groups.
The programme runs in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions in Bangladesh, and Baluchistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan.
More from the project
Nine steps to holding pop-up eye screening camps on the doorsteps of marginalised communities
In February 2020, Sightsavers' Kirsty Bridger visited Bangladesh to learn how we organise our eye screening camps.
A lightning strike changed Yousub’s life forever
Yousub has come up against decades-long hardships, but with with a sight-saving cataract operation, life is finally looking better. Here, he shares his remarkable story.
Meet the miking team, spreading the word about free eye health care
In Bangladesh, we know the best way to make sure no one is left behind is to take health information directly to their doorstep. Enter the miking team!
Hasina feared she wouldn’t see people coming to demolish her home again
Hasina lives in a camp in northern Bangladesh which has been demolished twice. Since developing cataracts, her fears of being homeless again were heightened.
“We put a special focus on women with disabilities and their rights”
On International Women’s Day 2020, Sightsavers' Asma Rashida highlights the additional prejudices women with disabilities face, and the important work of the Right to Health project.
Claiming rights and restoring sight: Shamima’s story
Shamima, who is hearing and speech impaired, has developed a unique way to communicate with her close family.
