Eye donation and corneal transplant

Sub: Science and tech

Sec: Health

Context:

World Sight Day is observed every year on the second Thursday of October. In 2024, it falls on October 14.
This day is marked by the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) to raise awareness about vision-related issues and the importance of accessible eye care services globally.

Corneal Blindness:

Corneal blindness is a leading cause of blindness among people under 50 years of age.
The cornea is the clear, dome-shaped outer layer of the eye that focuses light by refraction onto the retina, enabling vision.
Damage to the cornea, from injury, disease, or infection, can impair vision, and the only effective treatment to restore sight is a corneal transplant.

Corneal transplant:

A corneal transplant involves restoring vision to an individual with a damaged cornea by using healthy tissue from a donor.
The long-term success of corneal grafts depends on factors such as the quality of donor tissue, the type of corneal condition and follow-up care.
Corneal transplants began in 1905, with the first successful transplant in India occurring in 1960. Since then, advances in surgical techniques have led to greater success rates.
Surgeons now perform lamellar corneal transplants, where only a specific layer of the cornea is transplanted, rather than the entire cornea. This method leads to quicker recovery and reduces the chances of immune rejection.

Lack of donations:

The National Programme for the Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment estimates that over a million people in India suffer from corneal blindness.
Despite the demand, the number of corneal transplants performed annually falls far short of the target of 100,000 transplants partly due to challenges in organ donation, such as procedural delays and consent laws.
To address this, the government is considering a change to the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, to allow presumed consent, meaning all eligible donors would be assumed to have given consent, with the family’s formal approval.