Eye donation programme not yielding results in Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur, Mar. 5 (ANI): Due to lack of awareness, people in Uttar Pradesh are still reluctant to donate their eyes, despite efforts by various NGOs to spread information about eye donation.

"In our area the current situation of eye donation is not good because there is less awareness among the people. For this every year we put in efforts along with several NGO's, people of medical colleges and district hospitals. The federal and the state government also organise several programs for the same so that people come forward," said R K Jaiswal, Eye Specialist, B R D Medical College, Gorakhpur.

While several NGO's have started the awareness programmes at the grass-roots level by setting up an eye bank in Gorakhpur, the bank neglected by the government is highly functional.

"As far as the attention of the Government is concerned, the government does not pay any attention in this area. The organizations have been formed just for the sake of it. There has been an eye bank set up in Gorakhpur, but there are no activities happening. It is not sure if they have employed employees and even if there are employees, are they performing their duties or not," said Rameshwar Pandey, a medical student.

An estimated 75 percent of India's 12 million blind people suffer from colour blindness because of the country's limited eye care infrastructure

A global initiative called 'Vision 2020 Right to sight" was launched as a collaborative movement by WHO, representing governments and IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness) representing International Non profit NGO organizations.

India is committed to reduce the burden of avoidable blindness by the year 2020 by adopting strategies advocated for Vision 2020. (ANI)