Increasing the number of eye donations is crucial as corneal blindness can be treated only through transplantation from eye donations as there is no substitute for human tissue, said K. Bhujang Shetty, chairman and managing director of Narayana Nethralaya.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Dr Shetty said although an average of 57,000 eyes are collected across India annually, there are approximately 15 lakh corneal blind people who are in need of transplant in the country.
Moreover, every year, nearly 20,000 people are detected with corneal blindness, according to the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment.
