AIIMS Rishikesh holds webinar on Eye Banking

By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Rishikesh, 31 Aug: A webinar was organised at AIIMS Rishikesh on the occasion of 35th Eye Donation Fortnight on “Eye Banking and Cornea Transplant in Uttarakhand”. Various speakers shared their views on solving the problem of blindness and making people aware of eye donation.
The webinar was organised by Department of Ophthalmology under the aegis of UKSOS and EBAI. Speakers said that transplantation of cornea is possible only when people take a pledge on eye donation and donate their eyes to give life to a visually impaired person.
Padma Shri awardee Prof Ravikant, Director, AIIMS Rishikesh, appreciated the programme and said that people of all sections of society should be committed towards eye donation. When more people donate eyes, only then the problem of blindness could be solved in the country. He said every person needed to be motivated on eye donation.
Prof Sanjeev Kumar Mittal, Head of Department of Ophthalmology, while sharing his views, said that there are 10 to 20 lakh people in the country suffering from cornea blindness. The main reason for this is the lack of eye awareness among people and not getting eyes examined in time. Public awareness was needed to motivate people to donate eyes.
Dr Anjali Nautiyal, Director, National Health Mission, Uttarakhand, discussed various aspects of eye bank and cornea transplantation from the beginning till now in the state.
Prof Namrata Sharma, Honorary Secretary of the All India Ophthalmological Society and Eye Bank Association of India spoke in detail about cornea collection and transplantation in Covid-19 Crisis.
The chief panelists in the webinar were Dr Jaideep Dutta, President of UKSOS, Secretary Dr Satansu Mathur, Dr Gaurav Luthra, Chairman of the Award Committee, Dr Saroj Naithani, Director, National Programme, Uttarakhand, Prof Abha Gehlot, and Dr Ashish Bhutte of Forensic Department, AIIMS Rishikesh.
Dr Neeti Gupta, Medical Director of Eye Bank, Rishikesh, apprised the gathering on the roles of HCRP in Eye Banking and the performance of Rishikesh Eye Bank at AIIMS Rishikesh in the last one year. She also shared detailed information about cornea transplantation and public awareness programmes carried out. Dr Tarannum Shakeel, Faculty of Shri Mahant Indresh Hospital, Dehradun, Dr Bandana Yien, faculty of Nirmal Eye Institute, Dr Ruchika Patnaik, Faculty of Drishti Eye Institute, Dr Renu Dhasmana, Faculty and HoD, Eye Department of Himalayan Hospital, Jollygrant, also shared their views on eye donation and cornea transplant.