{UAH} Georgie, here is one generosity you do yourself to reduce propensity at chasing women
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KAMPALA – Ugandans are being asked to donate their eyes to a government eye bank so that compatriots suffering from visual impairment can be helped.
The request for the eyes was made by the North Indian Community Association of Uganda in order to accustom Ugandans to donating eyes, Uganda's Daily Monitor has reported.
The request was made at an eye camp in Naalya, Kampala, by Amit Jain, an executive member of the association who explained that many eye problems in the country were fixable if professional help was sought early on.
"We carry out monthly eye camps in slums around Kampala and the turn up is usually overwhelming. Ugandans need to know that most eye diseases are caused by poor hygiene," he said.
Giving examples, Jain explained that eye diseases such as cataracts, and in the worst case cornea transplants, were a result of unhygienic practices.
"Cataract surgery costs about UGX2 million (R7,276), while a cornea transplant costs about UGX8 million which most Ugandans cannot afford because we have to import the corneas from the USA and Sri Lanka since Uganda does not have an eye bank," he said.
Explaining how an eye bank operates, Dr Ganesh Prasad Yadav, a consultant optometrist at Dr Dharmendra Agarwal's Eye Hospital, said corneas were harvested, within the first six hours of death, from people who voluntarily donated them before they died.
"In the eye, the lens and cornea are the most important parts. The cornea corrects the amount of light entering the eye and once it is completely destroyed, the only option is seeking a cornea transplant," he said, adding that with an eye bank within the country, cornea transplants could be reduced to less than UGX2million.
"All the corneas we transplant are harvested from the dead because it is a tissue which is not connected to any blood vessel. A cornea can be transplanted from any person to another without a problem," said Yadav.
According to Agarwal, the chairman of the association, an eye bank works like a blood bank. When a person is still living, that person pledges his or her eyes to the eye bank in writing.
When he or she dies, the eye bank collects the eyes, removes the cornea to keep it fresh, as in the first few hours it is still living tissue.
Donating eyes in India is a popular practice, while in Sri Lanka it is mandatory after Colombo realised the high costs of importing corneas for transplants.
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