Restrictions placed on corneal retrieval from eye donors due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a shortage of tissues required for corneal transplants. Consequently, there has been a sharp increase in the backlog of patients awaiting transplants in the country.
Addressing the 36th National Eye Donation Fortnight event on Wednesday, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said there is a huge gap between demand of cornea tissues and supply.
Naidu said that to overcome the crisis in tissue availability, 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 added.
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India has done a tremendous job in containing the pandemic despite its huge population and limited resources.
However, a lot of routine non-emergency medical activities have borne the brunt of this pandemic and the eye-banking system too has been one of its victims.
The eye-banking guidelines of various countries, including India, advised temporary suspension of donor cornea retrieval and elective corneal transplantation surgeries when active lockdown measures were implemented.
“This, I believe, has led to almost negligible cornea retrieval during national and state-imposed lockdowns, with nearly 52% fall in corneal transplant surgeries and 63% fall in donor collection all over India,” he pointed out.
He said in order to tide over the current crisis in tissue availability, innovative measures such as long-term preservation of tissues and use of 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, so as to adapt to the continually changing challenges and requirements,” Naidu added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports estimate that approximately 5% of the world’s population is blind due to corneal diseases alone.
In India, approximately 68 lakh people suffer from corneal blindness in at least one eye; of these, 10 lakh people are visually impaired in both their eyes.
Naidu observed that many people were not coming forward to donate the eyes of their deceased family members due to myths and false beliefs. He suggested the launching of massive multimedia campaigns in local languages in every State by involving celebrities and icons to create awareness among the people.
He said that people should be made aware that the noble act of donating their eyes would enable people with corneal blindness to see the beautiful world by restoring their vision.
