123Pune.com

Pune, August 28: Seven-year-old Bharati Gore from Kasarwadi loves going to school. She missed the initial years due to blindness in one eye but after a corneal transplant, she now excels in academics. Bharati had to wait long for a donor — almost two years before she could get the transplant done.

Like Bharati, hundreds of others are in the list who have registered with eye banks and hospitals but have to wait for indefinite periods due to lack of donors. There is a requirement of at least 3,000 eyes in Pune. “We collect at least 250-300 eyes every year and have performed 250 corneal transplants. However, there is need for more corneas,” said chairperson (western zone) of Eye Bank Association of India Dr Bageshri Gogate. She is also the director of the eye bank at H V Desai Eye Hospital.

With national eye donation fortnight going on till September 8, several hospitals and eye banks have organised programmes for creating awareness about eye donation. At a unique programme on September 6, H V Desai Eye Hospital will conduct an interaction between 250-donor families and 100 recipients where the names of families who have donated the eyes will not be disclosed. Patients who have received the eyes will relate their experience at the event, Gogate said.

Ruby Hall Clinic’s eye bank in association with Rotary Club of Pune Downtown too has organised a meeting of donor families on September 9. Dr Sangeeta Wagh, Director of the Ruby Hall Clinic’s eye bank said the effort now is to target youngsters. “We are in touch with gyms and fitness clubs and try to motivate youngsters to donate their eyes,” she said.

Other efforts to encourage eye donation involve the Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme. Gogate said five grief counsellors who are part of the programme meet families of the deceased and encourage them to donate the eyes.

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