Eye Donation

  You talk of wondorous things you see,
You say the sun shines bright
I feel him warm, but how can he
Or make it day or night?

                                                                    - C. Cibber

The cells of the eyes are specialized cells. They live even after the living creature dies. By donating our eyes after the death of a person can light the life of a blind person.

About 35 million people in the developing world are blind and most of them can be cured. About 4.5 million people with corneal blindness can be cured through corneal transplantation of donated eyes. Out of these 4.5 million, 60 % are children below the age of 12. So, if we have got the gift of vision , why not pass it on to somebody who does not have it? What do we have to keep in mind when eyes have to be donated?


While donating eye please keep in mind that :-

1. Eye donors can belong to any age group or sex. Even eyes of children are useful.

2. People who used spectacles can also donate eyes.

3. People who had eye defects like cataracts or those who have suffered from diabetes, hypertension, asthma patients and those without communicable diseases can also donate eyes.

4. People who were infected with or died because of AIDS, Hepatitis B or C, rabies, acute leukemia, tetanus, cholera, meningitis or encephalitis cannot donate eyes.


Even though eye cells do not die, they can be infected by germs so they must be removed within 4 - 6 hours of death. Inform the nearest eye hospital immediately.

The eye bank team removes the eyes at the home of the deceased or at a hospital. Eye removal takes only 10-15 minutes. It is a simple process. Eye lids are not removed from their positions. So there is no disfigurement of face.



Eye donation has the following major advantage :-

•  An eye bank collects, evaluates and distributes the donated eyes. All the eyes donated are evaluated under strict medical standards. 


•  Those donated eyes which are found to unsuitable for transplantation are used for valuable research and medical education.


•  The identities of both the donor and the receiver remain confidential.

There is a misconception or a myth that eyes are necessary for a person so that he/she is not born blind in the next life. This are and would remain myth. One pair of donated eye gives vision to TWO CORNEAL BLIND PEOPLE. So, Please donate eyes.