Bangladesh Eye Care Society (BECS), a Non-Government, Non-Profit Organization run by a group of volunteers and professionals was established in 1988 under the leadership of the founder President Late Prof Mustafizur Rahman. Initially it was named as “Bangladesh Chokkhu Chigitsha Parishad”. The Society is registered as an NGO with the NGO Affairs Bureau (Reg. No. 677) and the Ministry of Social Welfare (Reg. No. Dha-02450) of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The goal of the organization is to provide preventive and curative eye care services to people of Bangladesh at an affordable cost and free of cost to the poor patients.

BECS conducted the first ever and the only surveys on Glaucoma in Bangladesh till date namely, “The prevalence of glaucoma in Bangladesh: a population based survey in Dhaka division” in 1993 and 1997 with the technical and financial support of International Glaucoma Association (IGA), London. It was later published in British Journal of Ophthalmology in December 2004. It is found that 3.1% of the population above 35 are suffering from glaucoma and about 10% are suspected to be suffering from glaucoma. But the worst part is, only 4% of glaucoma patients know that they are suffering from glaucoma leaving the rest or 96% of the total population not being aware about glaucoma diseases while they are already been suffering from it. These are till date the only researches from Bangladesh that have been published in a renowned international Journal like British Journal of Ophthalmology.

In adults, 80% of blindness is due to cataract which can be completely cured by a simple surgery. Glaucoma, a silent sight killer is the second cause of blindness usually affecting elderly group of people above the age of 40. It causes blindness silently. Early detection is important to prevent people from the curse of blindness for which public awareness is of paramount importance.

The Society was founded to serve patients with hospitals/clinics, do surveys and researches, educate and train ophthalmologists and Ophthalmic Technicians/Nurses, create and increase awareness among the people regarding glaucoma and other eye diseases, create a center of excellence in eye care as the cornea of Ophthalmic development in Bangladesh.

With this in mind, BECS has established and running Glaucoma Research and Eye Hospital for over two decades – only such specialized hospital for treatments of Glaucoma in the country. It was later moved to its own land in 2007 in Mirpur, Dhaka and started serving with a tin shade semi-pakka building. Later the constructions of the 9-storied building started in 2010 with the financial assistance from North American Bangladesh Islamic Community (NABIC) and other local donors. The Phase-I constructions – first floor, ground floor and basement built in December 2013 and the hospital moved to the newly built current building with temporary arrangements as the original plan is for 9 floors which is detailed later in this brochure. The new building was inaugurated by the founder president late Prof Rahman where senior eye specialists of the country were present including Prof Syed Modasser Ali, former Health, Family and Social Welfare adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The hospital was renamed as Mustafiz Glaucoma Research and Eye Hospital (MGREH) in 2015 in honor of the founder who envisioned a nine storied eye hospital over three decades ago.