A leading eye institute has raised the alarm over the critical shortage of corneas for transplantation in India. One million Indians are estimated to be affected by corneal blindness each year. Although the country requires 100,000 corneal transplants annually, only about 30,000 corneas are available for transplantation. To tackle this issue, the eye institute has recommended expanding cornea donation and retrieval programs and increasing the number of eye banks nationwide.
They proposed doubling the number of transplants from 30,000 to 60,000 by 2030. Achieving this goal requires expanding the eye bank network by establishing 50 new eye banks nationwide. Additionally, they suggested launching cornea retrieval programs in 500 general hospitals and training 500 ophthalmic surgeons to perform corneal transplant surgeries. The institute also stressed the need for the Indian government to…
