As part of the National Eye Donation Fortnight which is being observed from August 25 to September 8, the Drushti Daan organised a corneal blind detection programme at Padanpur of Jatni block in Khordha district on Friday.

Drushti Daan president Dr KC Padhy inaugurating the programme at the Padanpur Panchayat office said that it is the first of its kind programme in the country where a comprehensive survey of all households will be undertaken for detecting corneal blindness.

Eye Bank medical director Dr Sujata Das stressed the role of early and timely detection of corneal blindness. She said that transplantation facilities are readily available, and majority cases of corneal blindness could be cured.

Khordha CDMO Dr BK Mahapatra lauded the role of the Drushti Daan and said that corneal blindness could be eradicated if proper detection is made.

He implored the ASHA Workers to make house to house surveys for detection of the corneal blind.

Padanpur Sarpanch Sukanta Parida assured all support of the project and ensured that a fool proof survey would be conducted within the next few weeks.

A training programme for the ASHA Workers was held and kits were distributed to them. The Padanpur meprogram will be a pilot project in the State and its findings will become a model for a State-wide survey in later days.

Till date, the Drushti Daan has collected more than 10,500 corneal tissues in the State and after taking care of local requirements, corneas are being sent to surgeons in other parts of the country so as to ensure that all those needing corneal tissues will benefit.