Eye donation remains a pledge

Sutirtho Patranobish

New Delhi, August 26

Only a minuscule number of people who pledge their eyes for donation finally end up doing so. And, the resultant severe lack of donor eyes is bad news for 7 lack patients waiting to get back their vision, say eye specialists.

Since 1988 more than 4 lakh persons have pledged their eyes to the Rotary Regency Eye Bank through the Venu Eye Institute. However, "the bank has not received more than 2000 actual donations in the last 14 years," said the president of the Eye Bank Association of India, Ms. Tanuja Joshi.

Dr. A. K. Grover of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital agrees: "The eye bank at Ganga Ram faces a similar problem. For every thousand pledges, we get eyes from less than two persons after they die. It is the same story with all the 166-odd eye banks in the country."

The crux of this problem lies in the wrong thrust of the eye donation campaigns so far, says Dr. (Mrs.) Rachel Jose, deputy director general (Ophthalmology) in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

"The thrust of the programme was on the individual. However, since eyes can only be taken after the person is dead, his pledge is often forgotten. Therefore, thrust should be on families. Moreover, most pledges are made by the youth, in their '20s, decades before they can donate their eyes," Dr Jose adds.

That is where the 'hospital cornea retrieval programme' - which is on at Ganga Ram Hospital - can help. "In many countries, the concept of 'presumed consent' is followed where organs are taken out after death in a hospital. In India, the consent of the family is needed. So, if the hospitals can step in to fill the gap, and get the consent from the family, the vision of thousands can be restored," Dr Grover says.

Source: Hindustan Times
Dated :27th August, 2002