post news network, Bhubaneswar, May 15: Irrespective of the surge in literacy level and the ever-increasing rate of Internet penetration in large parts of the state, the noble cause of eye donation still finds a few takers. A look at the data available with the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) will make one aware about the sorry state of affairs prevalent in the state, when it comes to eye donation.
According to the NPCB data the state was given the target to collect “800 donated eyes” during 2014-15, but unfortunately it managed to collect only 331 eyes. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala performed better than other states, among the 36 states and Union Territories of the country by collecting more donated eyes than the set target.
Experts from the city working for the blinds and the disabled also expressed displeasure over the state of affairs prevalent in the state. Talking to Orissa POST, Ram Kishore Sharma, assistant director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped (VRCH) said, “Eye donation is a challenging job to execute. Volunteers working in the field often face many hurdles while executing their duties. It is quite a Herculean task to persuade the families of the dead to honour the pledge made by the deceased. The emotions attached to the dead person often dampen the prospects of eye donation.”
Sharma also said that many relatives of the dead person as also many other people in general, have the perception that the face of the dead body would get disfigured if the process of eye donations is carried out and this is a complete myth.
Another expert from the city, Nalini Sharma, secretary of a city-based NGO Drusti Daan said, “The state has three medical colleges where the facility of corneal donation is available, but unfortunately not much attention has been given to it. The need of the hour is to strengthen the government machinery to improve the eye donation rate in the state.”
When asked what problems the eye banks and people involved with the process of eye donation faced, she said, “First people need to understand that just pledging of the eyes is of no use, until you and the members of your family are really ready for the process. Many volunteers, who go to people after death to collect eyes, face difficulty in dealing with the aggrieved family. A lot of awareness and counselling is required to ensure that the next of kin allows to execute the pledge made by the deceased. And more and more people must donate their eyes.”
The Bhubaneswar-based additional director of the NPCB, who oversees the affairs of Orissa did not respond to emails and phone calls made by the Orissa POST
