An
eye bank run by a charitable trust today said it is planning to open 50
facilities across the country and provide free treatment for corneal
blindness to people from economically weaker sections.
"We plan to open 50 eye banks all over
India to ensure that corneal blindness is completely wiped out from
India," Ashok Mahindru, who heads Y P Mahindru Eye Bank, said at a camp
here.
The eye bank along with NGO Nirmaya
Charitable Trust organised a free check-up-cum-treatment camp which also
doubled up as a platform to donate eyes.
"We have been actively providing free
eye care since 1960. And we set up Y P Mahindru Eye Bank a little more
than four years ago. Since its inception, the bank has seen 1,150 eye
donations which have rebuilt lives of several people suffering from
corneal blindness," Mahindru said.
"At the camps that we organise,
everything from check up to treatment is free for the beneficiary
because our Trust bears the cost of the treatment. Since our roots lie
in villages, there can be nothing better than taking these initiatives
to villages," he said.
India has 3.5 million people with corneal blindness, but a meagre 40,000 people donate their eyes annually.
"It is important that people realise the
importance of donating eyes. I believe that while alive one should
donate blood and after death give away the eyes because that person can
continue to see the world through the one he donates his/her eyes to,"
Dr T N Ahuja from the Nirmaya Charitable Trust said.
Mahindru said, "people in India are not
quite open to the idea of organ donation but it is the most beautiful
gift you can give to the world. By donating eyes, one can make two lives
beautiful, this is the message we try to convey through our work."
"In places where maximum temperatures go
beyond 45 deg C during summers, cataract can set in as early as 50
years, so our target is such places," he added. (PTI)
http://echoofindia.com/new-delhi-50-eye-banks-be-opened-all-over-india-32467
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