The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) could not have got
a better way to begin the 'eye donation fortnight' than getting someone
pledging eye donation on the very first day. Pooja Saluja, 32, of
Jaripatka and a graphic designer running her business, has decided to
pledge eye donation with GMCH on the first day of the fortnight on
Sunday.
"I had been thinking about organ donation. But recent
deliberations with our religious Guru of Radhaswami Pant and recent
campaign of Times of India made my determination more strong," she told
TOI.
GMCH will be conducting various awareness activities among school and college students as well as general public
during the fortnight. Head of ophthalmology Dr Ashok Madan said that
the college would be taking up eye disease related surveys in six
corporation schools in city this year as a part of the social
responsibility of the college. Eye department would also be conducting
various activities with 970 schoolchildren from 83 schools during the
drive.
Of the 4.5 crore blind persons in world one third or 1.5 crore are in India. Unfortunately cataract is the biggest cause of blindness (62.4%) in the world. Corneal blindness is another reason but it is preventable and treatable. Yet it accounts for 25% of the total blindness.
Worse out of these 25-27% are children. Prevalence of corneal blindness is increasing every year due to varied causes like vitamin A deficiency, injuries (chemical, accidents, occupational), infections, congenital causes and sometimes blindness can be caused after cataract surgeries.
The annual need of corneal transplantation to remove the backlog is 2.5 lakh but in India only about 45,000 eye donations take place. And of these only 50-60% can be used for corneal transplantation.
The eye donation count in Maharashtra was 7,503 from May 2012 to June 2013. In the same period, 2113 corneal transplants were done in the state. In Nagpur, from May 2012 to June 2013, 450 eye donations had taken place while the corneal transplants figure was 135. Of these corneal transplants conducted in GMCH was 67. Still 900 corneal transplants are waitlisted in city and 96 in GMCH, by July 2013.
Associate professor Dr Dlip Kumre explained that not all donated eyes can be used due to medical reasons. Some patients suffer from infections or severe diabetes due to which their eyes cannot be used.
Another associate professor from the department, Dr Mona Deshmukh, said that it is really unfortunate that out of the 560 eye banks in country only 10-15% are functioning efficiently. Also lack of awareness about eye donation is another big reason for very low corneal transplants. Out of 7.5 lakh deaths annually only 23,000 or 0.3-0.4% of people donate eyes. Hence, country has only 15,000 corneal transplantations annually.
GMCH's suggestions
* Increase awareness campaigns to remove misconceptions, myths and traditional beliefs
* Stress on word of mouth and proper recognition to relatives who donate
* Proper training of paramedical staff to preserve the donated eyes so that they can be used successfully for the purpose of corneal transplantation
* Proper training of doctors in the field of corneal transplantation so that one cornea can be used for 2-3 persons using latest technology in this field
* Sufficient facilities in the institutes and hospitals conducting corneal transplantation so that the corneas are used in a proper way.
Source : TOI , 25th August 2013
Of the 4.5 crore blind persons in world one third or 1.5 crore are in India. Unfortunately cataract is the biggest cause of blindness (62.4%) in the world. Corneal blindness is another reason but it is preventable and treatable. Yet it accounts for 25% of the total blindness.
Worse out of these 25-27% are children. Prevalence of corneal blindness is increasing every year due to varied causes like vitamin A deficiency, injuries (chemical, accidents, occupational), infections, congenital causes and sometimes blindness can be caused after cataract surgeries.
The annual need of corneal transplantation to remove the backlog is 2.5 lakh but in India only about 45,000 eye donations take place. And of these only 50-60% can be used for corneal transplantation.
The eye donation count in Maharashtra was 7,503 from May 2012 to June 2013. In the same period, 2113 corneal transplants were done in the state. In Nagpur, from May 2012 to June 2013, 450 eye donations had taken place while the corneal transplants figure was 135. Of these corneal transplants conducted in GMCH was 67. Still 900 corneal transplants are waitlisted in city and 96 in GMCH, by July 2013.
Associate professor Dr Dlip Kumre explained that not all donated eyes can be used due to medical reasons. Some patients suffer from infections or severe diabetes due to which their eyes cannot be used.
Another associate professor from the department, Dr Mona Deshmukh, said that it is really unfortunate that out of the 560 eye banks in country only 10-15% are functioning efficiently. Also lack of awareness about eye donation is another big reason for very low corneal transplants. Out of 7.5 lakh deaths annually only 23,000 or 0.3-0.4% of people donate eyes. Hence, country has only 15,000 corneal transplantations annually.
GMCH's suggestions
* Increase awareness campaigns to remove misconceptions, myths and traditional beliefs
* Stress on word of mouth and proper recognition to relatives who donate
* Proper training of paramedical staff to preserve the donated eyes so that they can be used successfully for the purpose of corneal transplantation
* Proper training of doctors in the field of corneal transplantation so that one cornea can be used for 2-3 persons using latest technology in this field
* Sufficient facilities in the institutes and hospitals conducting corneal transplantation so that the corneas are used in a proper way.
Source : TOI , 25th August 2013
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