Melvin Jones Lions Eye Hospital at Buxi Bazar in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan.14: A state- of-the-art eye bank, which will facilitate collection of corneas vis-à-vis their evaluation and preservation for use, will soon come up here. Melvin Jones Lions Eye Hospital has decided to set up the eye bank.

“The eye bank, which will facilitate both hospital corneal retrieval as well as door-step collection facility, will be the first of its kind in Cuttack city,” said Ganesh Kumar Kandoi, chairman of Melvin Jones Lions Eye Hospital.

“A composite unit with a fully-equipped ambulance, along with a doctor and paramedical staff, would be set up as part of the eye bank aimed at promoting the cause of eye donation while providing vision to the blind in and around Cuttack city,” Kandoi said.

As part of the eye bank project, the hospital plans to generate awareness on eye donation among the public. “People need to be made aware of the fact that only corneas are needed while the eyes are left intact in the dead person. The general impression is that eye donation means gouging out the eyes as a whole. This has been a deterrent to eye donation,” hospital spokesperson Ashok Sharma said.

The 40-bed hospital, which has added a new four-table operation theatre to its facility, also plans to intensify school screening programme in and around Cuttack city for early detection of eye problems among school children.

“Under the programme, children found to be having vision defects are provided with free treatment and glasses,” Sharma said.

“The programme had covered 6,499 students in 2010. We have set a target of 10,000 school children in 2011,” he added.

The programme is aimed at “preventing child blindness”. Set up by the Lions Club of Cuttack at Buxi Bazar, the Melvin Jones Lions Eye Hospital at Buxi Bazar offers basic eye-care services as well as necessary surgical treatment.

“Free eye-screening camps are conducted regularly even in remote places. People requiring cataract surgery are brought to the hospital and dropped home after necessary surgery. These surgeries are totally free AND food is also provided to the patients,” the hospital spokesperson said.

The OPD section was started in July 1998 and surgery was started from August 1999. While 2,60,839 patients had been treated in the OPD section till December 2010, nearly 20,950 patients had undergone cataract surgery during this period. Another 2,035 patients have undergone other surgeries.