Mumbai: Twenty-one-year old Kiran, a computer engineering student, counts his blessings every time he writes a program. Today, he has 20/20 vision.
In a recent surgery to correct an eye condition he had since he was fourteen, he received a cornea transplant but only after a year-long wait.
“If I had delayed after September I would have lost my sight,” says Kiran.
But then not everybody is as lucky as Kiran. The cornea is what doctors call eye lens which helps you see.
According to the Eye Bank Association of India, the country requires Rs 2 lakh corneas every year but only 30,000 corneas are donated. And even fewer transplanted.
The problem is very few people donate their eyes and add to that the hurdles of finding a healthy donor cornea and cornea shelf life of merely five to seven days.
So thousands who suffer from eye infections, injuries, congenital problems have to wait for months on end before getting a donor. But the problem is far more serious than what meets the eye.
“With cataracts you can have the operation after three years, but in case of cornea transplants the eye just can't survive,” says Managind Director of Mehta International Eye Institute Dr Keiki R Mehta.
People like Kiran are exceptionally lucky. But the only solution in sight for others waiting for a transplant is more donations.
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