Arts, medicine, cyber space and ancient Indian knowledge are coming together for the first time to promote the noble cause of eye donation.
Arts, medicine, cyber space and ancient Indian knowledge are coming together for the first time to promote the noble cause of eye donation. A Bharatanatyam recital posted in the web highlighting the significance of the eye has become a rage and thousands have come forward to donate their eyes after death.
The Bharatanatyam titled “Eyes, the most important of all organs” has been posted in India Videos, a video portal exclusively for Indian art, culture and heritage. An ophthalmologist of global repute and a Bharatanatyam danseuse from Kerala have joined hands together to promote the significance of eyes.
The number of blinds in the country could be brought down to zero in five years, if eyes from one lakh dead persons could be harvested per year, according to an Indian ophthalmologist of repute. “It is estimated that there are 4.5 crore blinds in India. This is one-third of the total global blind population. If we could harvest the eyes of all dead persons, corneal blindness could be eradicated from India once and for ever,” the ophthalmologist Dr Ashley Thomas Jacob told DNA.
He said awareness campaigns held so far are yet to bear fruits as the message has not reached the people. “Every year, we record 80 lakh deaths in India. This means 1.6 crore eyes are buried every year. We should be able to harvest at least five per cent of these eyes to give sight to the living blind,” said Dr Jacob.
Dr Jacob, 39, a MS from Kasturba Medical College Manipal with training from the renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital, London is a Sir Ratan Tata Fellow in advanced cataract microsurgery at Chennai’s Sankara Nethralaya. He was taken aback by the callous attitude of the people towards eye donation during one of his vacations to his hometown in Kerala.
“Even educated people are reluctant when we tell them about the necessity to donate one’s eyes after death. They feel that if they donate their eyes, they will born blind in their next birth,” said Dr Jacob.
He disclosed that though many people come forward and sign declarations that after death their eyes should be donated, their relations are reluctant to allow the authorities to harvest the eyes. “We do not have an effective system through which we can reach the dead ones and harvest their corneas,” he said.
The dance posted in India Videos is based on a sloka from an ancient Ayurveda book on the importance of eyes. “The sloga selected from Vaidyakeeya Subhashitha Sahityam (authored by Bhaskara Govinda Ghanekara, chief surgeon and professor of Banaras Hindu University) is about the importance of eyes The video posted in India Videos has caught the attention fo more than 26000 persons without any advertisement. The number of people coming forward to donate the eyes are increasing by the hour from all over the world,” said Dr Jacob. Rajashree Warrier, the danseuse herself has set to tunes the slogas.
MR Hari, managing director, Invis Multi Media, the operators of India Videos, said this was the first attempt to integrate arts, medicine, cyber space and ancient Indian wisdom for a cause. “We produced the video and posted it in India Videos as part of the Eye Donation Day which falls on September 8. We hope to catch the eye of the web world through this campaign,” said Hari.
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