Ambala, 9 October (R. Singh):- A team from the Eye Department of Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt, led by Dr. Juginder Singh, visited Government Senior Secondary School, Khuda Kalan, and examined the eyes of 85 children. Of these, 14 children had some form of eye defect that was causing difficulty in reading. These children were provided with eye drops, and spectacles are also being provided to them.
Dr. Juginder Singh, who was present on the occasion, said that approximately 200,000 eye donations are required annually in India to address corneal blindness and clear the existing backlog of cases. Around 1.2 to 1.25 million people suffer from corneal blindness.
Approximately 25,000 to 30,000 new cases of corneal blindness are reported every year. He said that around 25,000 to 30,000 eyes are collected annually in India, but only 60% to 70% of them are suitable for transplantation surgeries. According to estimates from the National Blindness Survey, around five million people in the country are blind, while 34 million suffer from visual impairment. To eliminate blindness caused by cataracts, approximately 6.7 million to nine million cataract surgeries are required every year.
Dr. Juginder Singh said that India needs 200,000 donated eyes annually, while around 200,000 people die in accidents every year. He suggested that this shortfall could be addressed through eye donations from people who die in accidents or through the involvement of their legal heirs in cases where the deceased are unidentified, and said that the government should formulate rules in this regard.
