Maha has highest number of functional eye banks at 74

New Delhi: Maharashtra has the highest number of functional eye banks at 74 followed by Uttar Pradesh at 41, Karnataka at 32 and Gujarat at 25, even as 11 states and Union Territories, including Goa and Jammu and Kashmir, have no functional eye banks, according to official data. According to the response to an RTI application filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur, there are a total of 320 functional eye banks in the country. Eleven states and Union Territories -- Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim -- have no functional eye banks, while states such as Tripura, Uttarakhand and Mizoram have just one functional eye bank. Doctors, however, underlined that such banks alone don’t serve the purpose as there is an increased demand for eye donors especially in view of the COVID-19 pandemic which exacerbated the situation. Dr Manisha Acharya, the medical director of eye bank at Dr Shroff ’s Charity Eye Hospital, said there are a total of 750 eye banks in India, but only some of them are fully functional, well-equipped, and responsible for 80% of cornea collections in the country. “A nationwide eye banking network is the need of the hour, with one well-equipped eye bank having trained professionals/counsellors affiliated with eye collection and retrieval centres to ensure better utilisation. This could be a solution because establishing an eye bank requires large investments and approval from numerous government regulatory bodies,” Acharya told PTI. Dr Anita Sethi, Director, Ophthalmology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram said the issue is the lack of awareness around eye donation. Sethi said focus must be on increasing the awareness and number of eye banks in more populated states and UTs so there could be a match between where we can get the tissue from and where it needs processing.