The starting problem
Savar Upazila is one of Bangladesh's densest garment-manufacturing zones, home to a large population of low-income migrant workers — many employed in the same factories NUK has worked with for decades. Despite this density, specialist eye care remained difficult for residents to access without significant travel and cost, mirroring the rural access gap NUK had already addressed in Kishoreganj.
Applying a proven model
Rather than designing a new approach, this project deliberately replicated the outreach-and-referral structure refined at Kishoreganj Eye Hospital: portable screening camps identify patients, who are then referred into the hospital for low-cost treatment.
What made this project different
- Outreach scheduled around factory shift patterns, coordinated directly with factory management.
- A built-in plan to monitor whether workplace-adjacent siting measurably increases women's uptake of care, a known gap documented in NUK's gender-in-eye-health-care research.
Where it stands now
The hospital has completed its first rounds of outreach screening, with expansion into surrounding unions planned for the coming year.