The National Eye Bank (NEB) at Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences (RP Centre), Delhi AIIMS on Tuesday launched an awareness campaign for eye donation to combat corneal blindness.
Every year, from the last week of August to September 2, all the ophthalmologists of AIIMS conduct an awareness campaign for eye donation. According to the data provided by the National Eye Bank this year, in the last one year, 2,000 people donated corneas to AIIMS, through which 1,703 people regained their eyesight.
Processing over 23,000
Over the last 58 years, the National Eye Bank (NEB) has ushered in a new era in eye banking in the country. In which more than 32,000 corneas have been collected so far. NEB has treated more than 23,000 corneal blind patients across the country through corneal transplants.
Impact of the Covid era
Awareness about eye donation is spreading in the country, with campaigns being carried out by major institutions in the country. But in the last three years, eye donation has been significantly affected by the coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the services of the National Eye Bank. In the last 5 years, AIIMS has performed more than 1,000 corneal transplants every year. In the year 2023-24, 1,703 corneal patients were transplanted. This transplantation rate is 85%, which is higher than the national average.
Corneal transplant is done without waiting in case of emergency
Patients who come to AIIMS on emergency basis, i.e. those whose eyes have been damaged in an accident, are treated on zero waiting list on emergency grounds. Along with this, the ‘AIIMS-Delhi-Hospital Cornea Salvage Programme’ is also being run. The aim is to collect more optical quality tissues to meet the demand of all corneal transplant centres in Delhi.
The National Eye Bank is trying to establish a network with all government hospitals in Delhi and NCR to intensify the collection of donor corneas and provide access to corneal tissue to all corneal surgeons. The ‘Single Donor, Multiple Recipient’ system is also being encouraged at the RP Centre, so that donor tissues can be utilised more.
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