News

Raj gesture opens many an eye

‘Donate your eyes; give sight to the blind, give light to their life’. This message is normally seen in hospitals and eye banks. But in reality eradication of corneal blindness has become a daunting task due to acute shortage of donor eyes. But there appears to be some hope.

Inspired by Kannada thespian Rajkumar, whose eyes were donated after his death, a large number of people who hold the actor in high esteem, have pledged their eyes for donation after death. In fact, cornea from ten of them who died due to various reasons, were collected last month.

Never in the past has the noble cause seen such a response from the people. It is Rajkumar’s gesture that has encouraged many here to go for in eye donations. Mysore Eye Bank and Research Centre had received 326 eye donations last month alone. The response is so high that the center is unable to take on the load due to lack of manpower.

“Obviously the reason for such a big response is Rajkumar’s gesture. We had not seen such a response in the past. In a short span of time, we have received a record number of pledges and donations,” says B S Madhura, executive director of the eye bank. “I have not gone out for giving lectures on eye donation as I am fully occupied because of the huge response. If we had adequate manpower and infrastructure, we could have taken on the load,” she adds.

Among all other organs, eyes live after death, for six hours. Also, the success rate in eye transplantation is high (about 85 per cent). Nonetheless, not all corneas collected from dead persons can be transplanted. Only high grade corneas can be transplanted, the rest are used for therapeutic purposes, she said, adding that the corneas collected after death undergo strict medical examination. They are subjected to microscopic examination to test their optical grade.

“We receive pledges only from those who have healthy corneas. There is no point in collecting corneas that are not suitable for transplantation. Hence, we decide during declaration stage,” she adds. In addition cornea collection and transplantation are expensive. “We incur about Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for collecting corneas.

The surgical procedure involved in the transplantation is also expensive (sometimes Rs 10,000) as it is highly sophisticated and requires high-tech equipment,” Madhura says. The corneal transplantation is done meticulously as a small error can end in failure. So expert opthalmologists conduct surgeries under strict medical standards.

Though corneas are given free, the recipients have to bear the surgery cost. “The gesture shown by Rajkumar will go a long way as it can light up the lives of many unfortunate individuals who have not seen the colourful world. We anticipate that the response would continue,” she adds. Young and old
Ten pairs of eyes collected from 20 persons in Mysore last month were in the age group of 18 to 90 years.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jun52006/state204626200664.asp

© 2006 Dr. Rajkumar - Annavaru.