More than 3 million await corneal transplantation in India.
With the demand for corneal transplantation outstripping the supply across the country, eye hospital Narayana Nethralaya has intensified its eye donation campaign in the state. The activity is being carried out by the hospital under the aegis of its Dr Rajkumar Eye Bank.
Announcing the intensification of the campaign to create awareness among eye donors, Dr Bhujang Shetty, chairman and managing director of Narayana Nethralaya said: “Not many are aware that India is known as the ‘Blind Capital of the World’. More than three million people are eagerly awaiting corneal transplantation to gain vision and sight. Unfortunately, each year, the country is able to collect only about 50,000 eyes from donors. The supply is abysmally low compared to the demand. I urge all people to undertake a pledge to donate their eyes so that the deserving and needy are able to see this beautiful world.”
He pointed out that there were nearly 300-400 deaths each day in Bangalore, but eye donations accounted for just 3-4% of them. “It means that people are still not aware of the need for donating their eyes. Narayana Nethralaya, with the assistance of our associates, will intensify campaigns to raise the awareness levels among people about the need for donating their eyes. It is indeed one of the noblest donations,” Dr Shetty said.
Dr Rajkumar Eye Bank has been spearheading the campaign to spread awareness in Karnataka regarding the need for eye donation. Each year, it manages to collect 800-900 eyes from donors. So far, it has secured eye donation pledges from as many as 40,000 people in Karnataka.
Every year, the National Eye Donation Fortnight is observed between August 25 and September 8. This year, Narayana Nethralaya organised a special programs to raise awareness on eye donation among all sections of society. To coincide with the 28th National Eye Donation Fortnight, Narayana Nethralaya chose to honour its associates, who actively took part in eye donor programs, at its hospital in Bangalore on Monday. Well-known multilingual actress Sanjjanaa Archana and actress Bhavya, who were the chief guests at the event, pledged to donate their eyes.
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