Next fiscal,an eye bank for Pimpri

He said a Rotary Club in the town had mooted the proposal a few months ago. “It was decided to set up the facility in association with the Rotary Club and Aditya Birla Hospital. The bank was to be housed at Aditya Birla Hospital and we were to make the initial investment.”

Sharma said the PCMC had now decided to go on its own. “It is the need of the hour. And importantly,there is no such facility in the town. We need to speed up things.”

PCMC medical director Dr Rajshekhar Iyer said an eye bank would increase awareness about eye donations.   

Dr Uma Pardhi,an eye specialist with YCM Hospital,said the response in Pimpri-Chinchwad to eye donations was poor. “There is only one donor a month whereas at least five are waiting to receive a cornea.”

Dr Sangeeta Wagh,a corneal expert with Ruby Clinic,said the situation at the hospital was encouraging. “We get at least 100-125 donors a year. We have an in-house motivation system. After the death of a patient,we try to motivate relatives to donate the eyes of the deceased.”

She said it took about 20 minutes to remove the corneas. “The eyes remain as they are. Only the corneas are removed and deposited in the eye bank. There is no disfigurement of any sort as is feared.”

Dr Aditya Kelkar,director of National Institute of Ophthamology,said they too got 100-150 donors a year.