The Gorakhpur Akhilash Halve reports….
The visually challenged population of eastern Uttar Pradesh may have somehting to cheer about, as a local NGO is planning to start an eye bank in Gorakhpur. Once set up, it would be the second eye bank in this region. The other is in Varanasi.
The eye bank is proposed to be set up by Children of Mother Earth (COME), an NGO funded by Ravi Rai, a Singapore national with roots in Gorakhpur. Rai, along with noted opthamologist of city Dr Shobhit Agrawal, is working on this plan. The groundwork in this direction has already been done.
Giving details for the proposed bank, Dr Agrawal, an experienced hand in corneal transplant said, opening an eye bank demands a significant investment. The initial investment to start an eye bank is estimated at Rs 25 lakh, with a redurring monthly expenditure of around Rs 46,000 he said.
Now. this colossal figure can be met only by donations or government subsidy, he said. The hi-tech medical equipment, the costly medicines and the basic infrastructure requirements for starting an eye bank increase its cost heavily, he said. The government gives grants to eye banks, Ravi Rai said and added that though he had applied for the same early this year, the response is still awaited. Explaining the need to start an eye bank in the city, Rai said, Uttar Pradesh is ranked poorly in terms of eye donation and accounts for a lowly 3 per cent of the total donation cases across the country. The two most progressive states, Maharashtra and Gujarat account for 52 per cent – more than half of the total donations.
The abysmal awareness level among the population here is responsible for the poor number of eye donations. Tthe government is equally responsible for this, which can be explained by the fact that of the 89 districts in the state only seven have eye banks. The number of visually challenged people in Gorakhpur is about 45,000, according to a survey conducted by the District Blindness Control Society (DBCS), Gorakhpur. The DBCS had conducted a survey in14 of the 21 health care units (19 PHCs and 2 Community Health Centres) located in rural areas of the district and pegged the blind population at 21,000, member secretary of DBCS Dr KK Srivastava informed.
The other five PHs, where the survey was carried out in May-June this year, is yet to be completed and is likely to account for another 4,000 people, he said. Thus the total visually challenged population in the rural segment of the district is likely to be 25,000. Dr Srivastave, also District Programme Manager added.
