Eye donation - Importance stressed

At its annual Eye Donation Fortnight that will be on till September 8, the Aravind Eye Hospital in the city has stressed the importance of eye donation by pointing out that many persons eagerly await donor corneas to regain vision.Ophthalmologist Sri Shankar of the Cornea Services division at the hospital has said in a release that despite a number of discussions and pledging of eyes during such observance, the sad ground reality was that many blind persons were yet to benefit from donated corneas.

About 40 lakh people in the country were blind because of corneal problems. The number increased by 30,000 to 45,000 people every year.But, as against such a huge demand, only 7,500 eyes were donated a year in India, compared to about a lakh 100,000 in the U.S. People should be aware of eye donation. They should spread the message among their family members and across society. Every person should let his or her intention to donate eyes after death known to their family members. In case of anyone dying in the neighbourhood, one must try and persuade the relatives to donate the eyes of the deceased. Each pair of eyes would give sight to two persons, as they would get an eye each.

The nearest eye bank could be contacted. Organisations such as Lions clubs and Rotary clubs could also be contacted as they had a good network with the eye banks.

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