“People should come forward and pledge eye and more important is donate eyes in the service of humanity”, said Dr. Ashok Sharma here while speaking on the occasion of eye donation fortnight which took off at the Dr. Ashok Sharma’s Cornea Centre in Sector 22 here today.
National Eye Donation Fortnight is an annual event in India that takes place from August 25 to September 8 to raise awareness about eye donation and encourage people to pledge their eyes after death. The Guests of Honour were Mrs Indu Luthra: Director, Principal Sanjivni School & Child Care Centre and Mrs Rekha Mehan, Past President, Innerwheel Club, Chandigarh Midtown.
Dr Ashok Sharma, Director Cornea Centre, Chandigarh, highlighted the difficulties faced by Eye Banks in procuring quality donor eyes and performing corneal transplants. He said one of his patients from Nangal was blind and tried to commit suicide three times. He was brought to the cornea centre where he underwent corneal grafting and is enjoying good vision as well as a happy life. So corneal transplant a miracle can not only save eyesight but also life. This is possible only through eye donation.
Mrs. Indu Luthra, Director/Principal at Sanjivni Preparatory School and Child Care Centre appreciated the work done by the City Eye Bank and Dr Ashok Sharma’s Cornea Centre. She belongs to a family of ophthalmologists, a Rotarian, and Founder President of Inner Wheel Club. She is involved in organising blood donation camps, organ donation and eye screening camps in and around Chandigarh. Mrs Rekha Mehan, past President of Innerwheel Club, Chandigarh Midtown stressed the role of family members and friends to honour the wishes of the organ donors. She has been working for the upliftment of the Society.
Dr Ashok Sharma, apprised the audience that there are 60 lakh corneal blind people in India. We are performing around 28,000 corneal grafts annually and 25,000 to 30000 new cases are being added every year. In this background information, India needs nearly 2 lakh good quality donor eyes to take care of blindness in coming years. In addition to increasing the numbers, we also need to enhance the quality of the donor eyes.
According to Dr Ashok Sharma Director Cornea Centre, if all of us make an effort, this is possible. Dr Sharma introduced three children Kanu, Ishat and Vasu who are enjoying good vision and enjoying life after corneal grafting. Kanu underwent surgery when she was 5 months old and is now in the 6th standard studying and playing like normal children. Dr Sharma also gave the example of two specially-abled patients who had undergone corneal transplants in both eyes and were enjoying good vision. Parents of all three children are very happy and they are spreading the message of eye donation to the people.
