Dr. Mariatou Jallow, the minister of Health and Social Welfare, has formally launched Standard Chartered Gambia's nationwide eye screening and 200 Cataract Surgeries project, under the bank's 'Seeing is believing' initiative at a brief ceremony in her office. 

The project which is currently underway across the country, is a partnership among Standard Chartered, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Eye Care Programme, Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Center, and Sight Savers International. The bank is contributing a total amount of D312,000 in addition to support from its staff as part of their employee volunteering efforts. The launch of the initiative took place at the offices of the ministry in Banjul.

Elaborating on the motive behind the project, the chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank Gambia, Humphrey Mukwereza, recounted several pioneering efforts by the management and staff of the bank in the area of eye care and health in general. He pledged the bank's commitment to lead the way in contributing to the overall improvement of the quality of eye care and prevention of blindness in the country. "We are committed to overcoming this challenge and our resolve is strengthened by the company within which we find ourselves in the fight against blindness. Our partnership with Sightsavers, the Ministry for Health, SZRECC and other eye care organisations across the globe is an affirmation of our belief in partnership," he told the gathering.

Responding to the Standard Chartered Bank boss' statements, the minister for Health and Social Welfare said: "My ministry is indeed proud of the contribution of Standard Chartered to the provision of health services in The Gambia. The bank's pace-setting role in eye care support goes a long way to ensure our goal of reaching out to the marginalised in the society is realised and I seize this opportunity to challenge other businesses to emulate this shining example. We are looking forward to more private-public sector partnership opportunities to add more value to our health sector, which is already one of the best in the sub-region thanks to partners such as Standard Chartered."

Under this 'Seeing is believing' project, Standard Chartered in association with its partners is funding a nationwide screening and cataract surgery project for 200 patients with priority given to women and children.