Chennai, Commemorating the National Eye Donation Fortnight which is observed from 25th August to 8th September, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital today flagged off its eye donation awareness campaign in Chennai. The campaign encourages citizens to pledge their eyes and support the eradication of preventable blindness. Popular actor-director Prabhu Deva, flagged off the campaign in the presence of Prof. Dr. Amar Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospital. The event also saw Prabhu Deva extending his support by taking the oath to donate his eyes.
Launching the awareness drive Mr. Prabhu Deva said, “Eye Donation is a noble act. It is one of the most precious gifts that one can present to fellow beings. As compassionate social beings, I urge one and all to come forward and join the fight against preventable blindness.”
Prof. Dr. Amar Agarwal, Chairman & Managing Director, Dr. Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospital, said, “While there has been some improvement in the state of eye donation in the country, it is far from desirable. By 2020 the number of individuals with unilateral corneal blindness in India will increase to 10.6 million. To treat them we will require 200,000 corneas in a year, however, only 45,000 are collected. Further, only 46% of the collected corneas are utilizable, the rest do not meet the standards for transplantation calling for spreading awareness about eye donation and motivating both rural as well as urban population to participate. Careful tissue retrieval, improvement in the methods of processing and better storage facilities are also required to eradicate preventable corneal blindness in the country.”
One of the major public health concerns in India is blindness and around 95% of the visually impaired are suffering from preventable or treatable corneal blindness. The major causes of corneal visual impairment in children are scarring due to infection, trauma and malnutrition whereas, in adulthood infection, trauma and pseudophakicbullous keratopathy. The treatment includes replacing the damaged cornea with a donor cornea. A pair of cornea donated by a donor can give eyesight to four people. Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital has been in the forefront of the fight against preventable blindness. They have been supporting the cause by significantly investing in clinical research and awareness programmes. From the clinical perspective, they have to their credit PDEK, an advanced methods of corneal transplant. Invented by Prof. Dr. Amar Agarwal PDEK (Pre Descemet’s Endothelial keratoplasty), in which a donor of any age can donate his/her cornea. One of the biggest advantages of the technique is that the handling of tissue is better as the graft is thicker than the Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) and there by chances of tissue loss and intra-operative tissue injury are less.
About Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital:
Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital a comprehensive eye hospital offering a one-stop solution for eye ailments; was started in the year 1957. Now the hospital is in its 57th year of offering quality services in eye care. It has 15 branches in Chennai and a visible footprint in the states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Andaman and Rajasthan. A tertiary eye care centre at Mauritius marks its first step towards establishing an international presence extended upto 13 branches covering the Indian Ocean region, African countries and East Asia.
The hospital has received various awards for its inventions and services. In March 2006, Late Dr. J Agarwal, Founder-Chairman was awarded Padma Bhushan by the former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for his dedicated services to the poor and downtrodden. The hospital received visibility in the global arena for its inventions – Micro-Phakonit (Cataract surgery with 0.7 mm size incision) in 1999 and ‘Glued Intraocular Lens Implant’ performed on a 4 year old girl in January 2008 by Prof. Amar Agarwal. In February 2009, the world’s first Anterior Segment Eye Transplant Surgery was performed on a 4 month old child to treat corneal disorder. In November 2013, for the first time in the World, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Chennai transplanted a one year old donor cornea giving a new lease of sight to a 60 year old man through the new technique PDEK (Pre Descemet’s Endothelial Keratoplasty).
