Assam Turns A Blind Eye To Visually Challenged

GUWAHATI: Eye donation to enable the visually impaired persons to see this beautiful world, is yet to gain momentum in Assam.

The State has once again failed to keep up with cornea donation as new statistics shown by Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI) have revealed only 158 eye collections in 2017-18. There were 1,865 and 1,263 cases of eye donation in the neighbouring Bengal and Odisha respectively during the same period.

The 2017-18 statistics show a decline as compared to the 2016-17 data which showed only 214 eye collections from Assam during that period.

As per the census report of 2011 and statistics available with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Assam has a total of 80,553 visually impaired or blind persons.

The EBAI is a non-profit society working towards the eye donation movement in the country.

Experts feel that the low record of eye donation in Assam mostly stems from the fact that there is lack of initiative in creating the right level of awareness, and there is too much focus only on cataract operations to control blindness.

Part of the low collection of corneas may also be attributed to superstitious belief, communication gap, low awareness, and the need for better functionality for the Cornea Retrieval Programme (CRP).

Cornea collectors working for different agencies also have to face problems in getting the consent from the family of a deceased person who had pledged for organ donation before death.

The ophthalmologist said there is an urgent need to have better infrastructure and more eye banks in the State as many people do not know where and how to donate their eyes.

Eyes have to be retrieved from a body within six hours after the person’s death. The removed eyes should be implanted within the next 24 hours, or stored at an eye bank, where it could be preserved for up to 14 days only. Many harvested eyes are rendered useless as they are declared unfit for transplant.

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