Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s eye donation not just gave the gift of sight to four people, but also boosted eye donation and pledging. Narayana Nethralaya that runs the Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank has recorded a huge spike in donations since Mr. Puneeth’s eye donation on October 29.
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K. Bhujang Shetty, chairman and managing director of Narayana Nethralaya, said the eye bank has received one lakh eye pledges from November till date. “We have collected 2,019 eyes since the actor’s death. The numbers are higher than the pre-COVID period and are increasing every month. In August, we collected 208 eyes and 1,500 pledges,” he said.
“While we had seen a total of around 76,000 pledges in the 30 years of the eye bank’s existence, a whopping one lakh pledges have been recorded in the ten months alone. All these pledges are online through our missed call facility. We have launched an exclusive number — 8884018800 — through which people who wish to pledge their eyes can register their names. Those who want to donate can call 9741685555,” the doctor pointed out.
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National Eye donation fortnight
Since 1986, National Eye Donation fortnight is observed every year from August 25 to September 8 to create awareness among the public about eye donation and eye pledging under the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment. Overall, Karnataka has recorded 4,594 eye donations during this fortnight so far through all the 32 eye banks in the State.
To mark the 37th Eye Donation fortnight, the Health Department organised a walkathon from Vidhana Soudha to Kanteerava Stadium on Monday. On the occasion, families of eye donors and eye recipients were felicitated. Health and Medical education Minister K. Sudhakar presented eye donation certificates to the families eye donors.
“It has been decided to club the event with the theme of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and accordingly each Primary Health Centre (PHC)in the State has been directed to conduct eye donation camps in their jurisdiction. The PHCs have been given a target of mobilising at least 75 eye pledges,” said an official statement from the Health Department.
Anybody can donate eyes irrespective of age, sex, religion, blood group. Donation of eyes can happen even if the person is suffering from diabetes, cataract, glaucoma, hypertension, cardiac issues, asthma or refractive errors. Pledging of eyes before death is not mandatory for eye donation. Eyes should be collected within six hours after death. Removal of eyes takes only 20 minutes and does not disfigure the face, the statement added.