Coimbatore : In spite of having the required medical facilities and infrastructure, India is unable to ramp up the number of eye
donations and there there is a pressing need to create awareness among the general public.

Around 84 Lakh people in India are suffering from corneal blindness in at least one eye, butt the amount of cornea transplants which are happening year out of donated cornea is only around 30,000, a Webinar organised by the City-based Lotus Eye Hospital and Institute and along with Lions Club International (Dist. 324B5) as part of the Eye Donation Fortnight, was told.

The webinar was organised on Septemer 8, to stress the importance of eye donation and to create awareness among the public.

Corneal blindness happens because of various factors such as injuries to the eye, birth defects, malnutrition, infections, chemical burns, congenital disorders and eye donation is very simple and can be done by men and women of all ages, the Institute CEO K S Ramalingam said.

Lions Clubs are facilitating around 500 Corneal Transplant surgeries each year to restore vision to the needy and have also taken up various awareness programmes to motivate people to come forward to donate eyes, Lions Club International District Governor 324B5 S Dharmaraj said.