India News | Vice Prez Naidu Calls for Campaign in Regional Languages to Promote Eye Donation

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for dispelling myths and false beliefs about eye donation and suggested a massive multimedia campaign in local languages in every state by involving celebrities and icons to create awareness among the people.

Speaking at an event to mark the the 36th National Eye Donation Fortnight, he referred to the huge gap between demand of donor cornea tissues and supply.

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"It is unfortunate that so many people are suffering from corneal blindness because of lack of donor cornea tissues for transplant. The need of the hour is to increase awareness among people about the importance of eye donation," he stressed.

Observing that many people are not coming forward to donate the eyes of their deceased family members due to myths and false beliefs, Naidu said people should be made aware that the noble act of donating their eyes would enable people with corneal blindness to see the world again.

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"If all of us make a pledge to donate our eyes, we can treat the entire backlog of cases waiting for corneal transplant. Therefore, this is an achievable goal and we should strive untiringly to accomplish it," he told the event which he addressed via video bridge.

Pointing out that the restrictions placed on corneal retrieval due to the coronavirus pandemic have led to a dearth of tissues required for corneal transplantation and have increased the backlog, Naidu said that to overcome the crisis, innovative measures such as long-term preservation of tissues and alternative surgical procedures which do not require donor tissue have to be considered.

"As our understanding of COVID-19 improves, we may need to modify the guidelines regarding eye-banking and tissue retrieval," he said according to an official statement issued by the Vice President Secretariat.

He also felt that parents and teachers must take responsibility to wean away children from excessive use of devices and falling into, what he described was, "technology addiction".

The vice president also stressed the need for a structured eye-banking system to bridge the gap between demand for donor tissues and supply by promoting awareness, facilitating generation of donor tissues and ensuring their equitable distribution.

Reiterating that 'share and care' is at the core of Indian philosophy, he said, "Ours is a culture where kings and sages like Shibi and Dadhichi donated their bodies. These examples are built around the core values, ideals and sanskaras of our society."

He called for redefining those values and narratives in a modern context to inspire people and promote organ donation.

"By donating an organ one not only helps a person to lead a more fulfilling life, but sets an example for others to work towards the larger good of society," Naidu said.

Calling for increasing eyecare facilities to treat cataract, glaucoma and other ophthalmological problems, the vice president said there was an urgent need to devise a multi-pronged strategy for strengthening preventive and curative eye care across the country.

It was important to ensure that these services are available in rural areas, particularly the remote parts of the country. The Panchayati Raj Institutions, urban local bodies and NGOs must be involved in augmenting the efforts of the government to provide comprehensive eye care services to people in the rural areas, he said.

Observing that large segments of the rural population are deprived of quality eye care, he said many people living in rural areas cannot afford the high cost of treatment at private hospitals. "Therefore, we must equip our public sector eyecare hospitals with the latest technologies to provide quality treatment," he said.

Private eye hospitals, Naidu said, must also open satellite centres in rural areas and deliver the benefits of modern eyecare to the rural populace.

The vice-president lauded the team at the National Eye Bank for empowering thousands of people affected with corneal blindness with the gift of visionover the last five decades.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)