They will be trained to communicate with the relatives of patients and urge them to donate corneas.
In a unique drive, the state health department has planned to rope in school children to speak to relatives of the accident victims to donate the corneas.
“Relatives feel hostile towards doctors especially in delicate situations like accident cases. We feel relatives will be more receptive towards children,” said Dr Ashok Potdar, joint director, Directorate of Health Services (DHS). The drive will start within few months.
The records have shown that most people who pledge their eyes do not retain their cards. “Immediate eye collection is important. The corneal cells remain alive for six hours only. Most of the time family members don’t know that the deceased had pledged his eyes,” said Dr Potdar.
Besides this, the donator should not suffer from diabetes, hypertension, HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. This limitation reduces the number of corneas that can be used in cases where people suffer from damaged or opaque corneas that causes blindness.
This move will mean that the state can focus on trauma
patients, who are brought into hospitals after suffering major accidents and succumb to injuries later.
The state will target hospitals along highways where accidents occur including Eastern Express Highway.
“We want to train Std X students to communicate with the relatives of such patients and become eye donation counsellors. We will tell them about the facts and figures of blindness and how corneal transplantation can help overcome it. Also we plan to make flip charts with some pictures that can be used by these counsellors,” said Dr Potdar.
The children will be trained to inform the victim’s relatives that their loved ones will not be disfigured because of the donation and an artificial eye ball will be placed in their eye.
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