'Eye donation drive hits hurdles in Assam' Says Retired Ophthalmologist of GMCH

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Lack of general awareness, expertise and administrative support have hit the eye donation drive causing concern among ophthalmologists about the rise in the number of blind persons in the State.

A retired ophthalmologist from Gauhati Medical College and Hospital said that the low record of eye donation in Assam was outcome of lack of initiative in creating the right level of awareness. There is too much focus only on cataract operations to control blindness, he said.

Part of the low collection of corneas may also be attributed to superstitious belief, communication gap, low awareness, and the need for better functionality for the Cornea Retrieval Programme (CRP).

“Cornea collectors working for different agencies also have to face problems in getting the consent from the family of a deceased person who had pledged for organ donation before death,” he said.

The ophthalmologist said there is an urgent need to have better infrastructure and more eye banks in the State as many people do not know where and how to donate their eyes.

Eyes from a body have to be retrieved within six hours after the person’s death. The removed eyes should be implanted within the next 24 hours, or stored at an eye bank, where it could be preserved for up to 14 days only. Many harvested eyes are rendered useless as they are declared unfit for transplant.

“In the past, cornea from many persons could not be retrieved even after they made pledges to donate the same after their deaths. Either some family members of the deceased did not inform the nearest eye bank due to various reasons or experts did not reach on the spot in time,” a professor at Regional Institute of Ophthalmology art GMCH said.

On other hand, the State has once again failed to keep up with cornea donation as new statistics shown by Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI) have revealed only 158 eye collections in 2017-18. There were 1,865 and 1,263 cases of eye donation in the neighboring Bengal and Odisha respectively during the same period.

The 2017-18 statistics are also a fall as compared to 2016-17 data which showed only 214 eye collections from Assam during that period.

As per the census report of 2011 and statistics available with the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities (Divyangjan), Assam has a total of 80,553 visually impaired or blind persons.

The EBAI is a non-profit society working towards the eye donation movement in the country.

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