Experts highlight the need of improving infra and research in eye donation

CHENNAI: In order to emphasize on the need for eye donation in India, a private hospital in the city organised an eye donation awareness campaign to observe National Eye Donation Fortnight in the city.

Ophthalmologists highlighted the need of research and improvement of infrastructure in eye donation to encourage more number of donations in Tamil Nadu.

Samay Singh Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police of Traffic, Chennai East inaugurated the event conducted by Agarwal's Eye Hospital that focused on improving the eye donation in the State.

Dr Athiya Agarwal, Director of Dr Agarwal's Group of Eye Hospitals said that it is crucial to raise awareness about eye donation and expand the infrastructure of eye banks and research centers to facilitate more donations. Additionally, when eye donations cannot be used for transplantation, they are channeled towards research and education, contributing to advancements in understanding various eye conditions.

“To date, the hospital has successfully transplanted over 40,000 corneas to individuals in need, with 40 percent of recipients belonging to economically deprived backgrounds. This represents a small yet significant step in the fight against corneal blindness," Dr Athiya added.

Dr Preethi Naveen, Senior Cornea Consultant and Medical Director of Dr. Agarwals Eye Bank emphasised the significance of eye donation. She explained, "A massive 8 million of them live in India out of which 1.3 million of them have lost sight due to corneal blindness. To prevent this loss of vision, hospitals require about 1.3 lakh corneas per year."

Talking about recent advances she explained, “Through the advanced surgical technique that are available, one cornea can be separated into multiple layers by which one pair of eyes can give vision to four people thus restoring vision in many needy patients."