CCHCP News
A grand Premiere of Childhood Cataract Health Communication Materials held in August 2006.
A gala premiere program of the Childhood Cataract Health Communication Materials was held on August 24th 2006 at BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka. Professor MA Matin , the chairman of the National Council for the Blind honored the chair of the Chief guest. Professor A.H Sayedur Rahman, President of the Child Sight Foundation presided over the program. Dr. MA Muhit, Research Fellow of ICEH was also present in the premiere program of the communication materials.
Two TV spots containing awareness messages preventing childhood cataract, A 12 episodes Radio Magazine "Alor Jhorna Dhara", Training Flipchart for Key Informants training to identify the visually impaired children, Posters with messages about Cataract was launched in the Program.
The premiere program was closed with a cultural performance by the visually impaired children of Bapist Songho School for the Blind Girls (BSSBG).
Representatives from national and international organizations, Communication specialists, Education specialists, journalists, artists, directors of add agencies, actor, actress, visually impaired children participated the program.
Child Sight Journalist Fellowship Award; Journos orientated on childhood blindness through a workshop.
Child Sight Journalist Award has started under the Childhood Cataract Health Communication Project. A total of 13 journalists are participating in this fellowship. An orientation workshop on Child blindness in Bangladesh was held on 12th August 2006. MA Muhit, Research Fellow ICEH, London, UK and Abdur Rahman Khan, prominent journalist and General Secretary of Common Wealth Journalist Association was the resource person in the orientation program. The journalists were orientated on the child blindness situation in Bangladesh, present picture of newspaper coverage on child blindness, rights of the disable children and the visually impaired children, the technique of writing on child visual impairment issues etc. All the participants were very keen to write about the issue and participated the workshop spontaneously. Afterward journos were taken to visit the eye screening camp of the Child Sight Foundation.
Health Communication workshop held in February 2006
Launching of the Childhood Cataract Health Communication Project and a workshop to develop the strategy of the project was held on 14th February 2006. The program was inaugurated by Mr. M. Shamsul Islam, Information Minister, Ministry of Information, Government of the Peoples, Republic of Bangladesh. Mr. M.A Matin (M.P), Vice-Chairman, Bangladesh National Council for the Blind (BNCB) was present as the Special Guest of the program.
Ms. Victoria Francis, the editor of the Community Eye Health Journal published from International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH), London, Uk, made a presentation on the importance of communication to create an enable environment for eye care at community level. M A Muhit, Research Fellow, ICEH, London, UK, presented the key note paper on the childhood cataract problem in Bangladesh, referring his national study finding the cause of childhood blindness in Bangladesh. A total of 85 participants attended the launching program.
At the second phase of the program a workshop was conducted to identify the Key messages, intended audiences and the appropriate media to reach the audience. Representative from national and international organizations working with visual impairment, child rights and disabilities; communicators, education specialists, doctors, visually impaired children and their parents, local government members, religious leaders participated in the workshop. The participants recommended to develop TV spots, Radio Magazine program on eye care, training flipchart, posters, Calendar, brochures, leaflet and to provide skill development training and other related materials to prevent childhood cataract blindness from Bangladesh. Child Sight Foundation is following the recommendations to implement the project and at present team is working in full swing.
