Corneal Blindness

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) calculations there are about 10 million blind and visually disabled persons in India alone - this number could double by the year 2020 unless immediate interventions are made.

Of these 10 million, nearly two million persons have corneal blindness. Patients with corneal blindness can be visually rehabilitated only through transplanting their own damaged or disease affected corneas with healthy corneal tissues obtained from voluntary donors. Blindness continues to be one of the most important health concerns in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

It is therefore critical, especially in the developing world, to set up eye banks of international standards that will pay particular attention to three primary objectives:

• To increase the volume of corneal tissue available for transplantation, 
• To apply the strictest medical standards in procuring and preserving donor tissues, and 
• To maintain the highest levels of professionalism at every stage in the process of eye banking. 

Corneal problems can happen to anyone at any age. Sometimes due to disease, injury and infection the cornea becomes cloudy or warped. A damaged cornea, like a frosted or misshapen windowpane, distorts light as it enters the eye. This not only causes distortion in vision; it may also cause pain.

When there is no other remedy, doctors advise a corneal transplant. A transplant is the replacement of damaged or diseased tissues or organs with healthy replacements. In this procedure an ophthalmologist surgically replaces the diseased cornea with a healthy one to replace clear vision.

Also see Corneal transplant