(a) whether Government are aware that donation of eyes to
the eye banks is over-whelming during the last three years;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether Union Government are making any special efforts
to enthuse and encourage more and more people to donate
their eyes so that blind persons can also get an opportunity
to see; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF
HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI A. RAJA)
(a)&(b): No, Sir. The approximate requirement of the cornea
annually is about one lakh whereas we the eye banks
collected only 15, 194 corneas in 1998, 12,174 corneas in
1999 and 19, 069 corneas in 2000 which is far below than the
expected collection. The State-wise details of eye
collection of the above three years is enclosed as Annexure.
(c)&(d): Yes, Sir. To promote eye donation in the country,
the following measures are being taken:-
i. Organising National Fortnight on Eye Donation from 25th August to 7th September every year.
ii. Enhance mass awareness through messages on television, radio, press and printed material.
iii. Training hospital staff on GRIEF COUNSELLING for motivating relatives of terminally ill patients for donating the eyes.
iv. Provide financial assistance to eye banks in Government and voluntary sector.
v. Organise training of eye surgeons in the corneal transplantation to restore vision of corneal blind persons.
vi. Launching hospital cornea retrieval programme with the support of major hospitals, medical colleges in Government and Non-Government sector, Army, ESI & Railway hospitals of the country.
vii. To shift the focus from `Pledging of Eyes` to actual collection of Eyes. ANNEXURE
STATEWISE STATISTICS OF CORNEA COLLECTION BY THE MEMBER EYE BANKS OF EBAI
Sl. STATE Eyes Eyes Eyes No. collected collected collected in 1998 in 1999 in 2000
1. Andhra Pradesh 1040 917 1306
2. Assam Not Not 0 reported reported
3. Bihar 28 68 17
4. Chandigarh 200 225 246
5. Delhi 846 997 973 6. Gujarat 5133 588 6078
7 Haryana 10 Not 168 reported
8. Karnataka 723 776 842
9. Kerala 238 206 264 10. Maharashtra 2700 1477 4189 11. Madhya Pradesh 310 456 408 12. Orissa Not Not 0 reported reported 13. Punjab 752 100 199 14. Rajasthan 47 143 218 15. Tamil Nadu 2534 1201 3359 16. Uttar Pradesh 319 224 214 17. West Bengal 214 296 531 18. Pondicherry 67 Total 15,194 12,174 19,069