At a glance: Converted limited general health infrastructure into a dedicated eye hospital serving Kishoreganj district, now running ongoing outreach camps.
The starting problem
Before this project, Kishoreganj district had almost no dedicated ophthalmic surgical capacity, despite cataracts accounting for roughly 80% of blindness cases in Bangladesh. Patients needing surgery faced long, costly travel to Dhaka or other major cities — a barrier that meant many simply went blind rather than sought treatment.
What the project built
- Surgical theatre and recovery space dedicated to ophthalmic procedures, distinct from general outpatient care.
- A trained outreach team able to run village-level screening camps across the district.
- A referral pathway connecting screening camps directly to surgical scheduling at the hospital.
Why this approach
Rather than waiting for patients to self-refer, NUK designed the project around active outreach from the start — recognising that the same transport and awareness barriers preventing surgical access were also preventing diagnosis in the first place.
Where it stands now
The hospital now operates as one of NUK's flagship Community & Eye Hospitals, with ongoing outreach camps and annual reporting tracking outcomes.