Indian eye donors only 5% of country’s requirement: Karnataka Health Minister
Dr K Sudhakar punctures superstitions about eye donation, pointing to prominent eye donors like Dr Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar
BENGALURU:
“After we die, if our eyes can give vision to another person, there is no bigger fulfillment than that,” said Dr K Sudhakar, Minister of Health and Medical Education, on Saturday. He was speaking at the inauguration of Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital in Indiranagar.
“Blindness is a very painful thing. No matter who we are, it is with our eyes that we can see the beauties of nature created by the Almighty. It is estimated that more than 4 crore people in the world have blindness. India needs 1 lakh eye donations every year. But the donors we get are only 5% of the requirement. The lack of eye donors is haunting us, considering that 10.8 lakh children in the country are blind,” the Minister said.
“Eye donation has further reduced due to Covid. Superstition surrounding eye donation is still widespread, though donating eyes is a noble cause. There is a misconception that if the eye is removed from the corpse, the face will be disfigured. This isn’t true. Great people like Kannada icon Dr Raj Kumar and recently Power star Puneet Rajkumar have donated their eyes. Millions of people have seen their mortal remains, which was as it was when they were alive,” Dr Sudhakar said.
ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಇಂದಿರಾನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ನೂತನವಾಗಿ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣವಾಗಿರುವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್.ಅಗರ್ ವಾಲ್ಸ್ ಕಣ್ಣಿನ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಇಂದು ಉದ್ಘಾಟಿಸಿ ನೇತ್ರದಾನವನ್ನು ಬೆಂಬಲಿಸುವ ಅಭಿಯಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಸಹಿ ಹಾಕಲಾಯಿತು. ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆ ಸಿಇಒ ಡಾ.ಆದಿಲ್ ಅಗರ್ ವಾಲ್, ಮತ್ತಿತರರು ಉಪಸ್ಥಿತರಿದ್ದರು. pic.twitter.com/lLpCEjeK3y
— Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) December 11, 2021
Other points by Health Minister
• Karnataka is a model for other Indian states in eye donation, which has been possible due to health care entrepreneurs.
• Private hospitals in the state must work towards creating awareness on eye donation, more so in rural areas.
• Dr MC Modi built eye hospitals and dreamt of ‘vision for all’. He performed lakhs of surgeries during his 40 years of service and cured the eye problems of millions of people. Dr Modi’s yeoman service is a model for all.
ಇದನ್ನೂ ಓದಿ: ನಮ್ಮ ಕಣ್ಣಿನಿಂದ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೆ ದೃಷ್ಟಿ ಬರುವುದೇ ಬದುಕಿನ ಸಾಕ್ಷಾತ್ಕಾರ: ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಸಚಿವ
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