KMEH forms executive committee to encourage eye donation

In an attempt to develop a proper roadmap for giving thrust to eye donation campaign, an internal meeting of the core committee members of Eye Donation Awareness Club was organised on Sunday in the auditorium of Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital (KMEH). Besides discussing the policy for taking eye donation campaign forward, the new executive committee was constituted for two years by inducting some of the senior journalists of Jharkhand.

Anuj Sinha -- State Editor, Prabhat Khabar was elected as the President of Eye Donation Awareness Campaign while Chandan Mishra – Political Editor, Hindi Hindustan alongwith two other senior journalists will serve as Vice-President of the club. Over 11 senior journalists have been appointed as the advisors alongwith a Secretary, five joint Secretaries including 11 executive committee members.

Addressing the gathering, Medical Director, Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank, Dr Bharti Kashyap, said, “The new executive committee of Eye Donation Awareness Club has been formed with a purpose. Members of Eye Donation Awareness Club of Kashyap Memorial Eye will help in speeding up the campaign in spreading awareness about eye donation in Jharkhand. Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank is one of the most active banks of Jharkhand and Bihar; still it receives only 25 to 30 corneas annually, which is less than required numbers.”

With an aim to eradicate corneal diseases and for conducting Keratoplasty, Eye Donation Awareness Club of Kashyap Eye Memorial Hospital was formed in 2004 and is active since then. “The main aim of this club is to create awareness about eye donation and increase the numbers of the donors,” added eminent ophthalmologist, Dr Kashyap.

According to the Eye Bank Association of India norms, all eye banks come under the category of ‘Active Eye Bank’ which has more than 25 or at least 25 eye implants done in a year. “Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank is an Active Eye Bank, but there are not enough corneas to overcome the cornea-borne blindness of Jharkhand, hence a collective approach is required to fill the existing gap,” Dr Kashyap further added.