Click to play videoNew Delhi: Eye donations in India are at an all-time low. Lack of donor participation and an ineffective system is resulting in long waiting periods for the patients.
For 17-year-old Gulistan, the wait is finally over. Last year a firecracker explosion had left her 90 per cent blind in both the eyes. After waiting for months, Gulistan now is all set to get a donated eye, thus rekindling her hopes for the future.
"Hope I can see again and continue my studies," said the upbeat girl.
Gulistan's case is an indication of the dearth of eye donations in the country. Official figures indicate that presently while we have over one million visually challenged patients in India, the number of donations is only about 20,000.
To make matters worse, only 60 per cent of the donated eyes are used for surgical transplants. Dr Tanuja Joshi, the Administrator at Venu Eye Institute said, "Lack of awareness is the reason for the condition. Also, many myths associated with the donation and replanting of an organ like an eye has created many have mental blocks amongst people thus hampering the donation process."
Most of the times, relatives of the deceased object to the eyes being removed. This is where the role of the grief-counsellors becomes crucial. But the counsellors too agree that it is not always an easy job to convince the family.
Vimla Joshi, one such grief counsellor said, "They are either crying or they behave rudely. It is a difficult task to talk to them at that time about eye donations but we do try to persuade them."
Besides creating awareness, experts today agree that improved technological infrastructure to preserve and handle corneas will improve the current situation.
There is also a need for a coordinated collection system to ensure that a greater number of eyes are banked for future use.
Dr Tanuja Joshi said, "Demanding a system where we can reach the deceased faster to ensure quicker reception of eyes will certainly help."
More than 25,000 patients are set the list of the visually challenged every year in India. Eye banks in Delhi are now planning to pool all resources to create a better system.
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