3. Eye Donation- The Hindu-10-10-2022

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SOCIAL ISSUE :
CONTEXT: Disparity among States in facilities for eye donation.
Prelim and Mains :
Eye donation :-
In most cases, loss of sight can be corrected through 'Eye Donation". After the death of a person, various organs can be donated and can be surgically transplanted to the patients who need them. One such organ is the eye. By donating eyes after death, a corneal blind person can see again through a surgical procedure known as corneal transplantation, where the damaged cornea is replaced by a healthy cornea from the eye donor.
What is Blindness?
Blindness is one of the major public health problems in developing countries. According to World Health Organization, corneal diseases (damage to the tissue covering the front of the eye called the cornea) are among the major causes of vision loss and blindness after cataracts and glaucoma. Approximately 5% of the world’s population is blind due to corneal diseases alone.
India data :
In India, approximately 68 lakh people suffer from corneal blindness in at least one eye; of these, 10 lakh people are blind in both eyes. The National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey 2019 reported that corneal blindness was the leading cause of blindness among patients aged less than 50 years in India, accounting for 37.5% of the cases and was the second leading cause of blindness among patients above the age of 50 years.
Way to donate eyes :
On death, inform the eye bank immediately.
The donation must be within 6 hours of death. Close your eyes and place wet cotton over the lids (to keep the cornea moist & healthy).
Switch off fans.
Removal takes only about 20 minutes