‘Sudha’, (her name literally means nectar) has brought manna to every galled, lacerated human heart and tormented soul, those who are denied the lure of light and sight to the external world. Today, her outfit Dushti Daan evokes reassurance to those hapless and hopeless thousands of suffering humanity afflicted with corneal blindness. She has been actively involved in this voluntary organisation for promotion of eye donation that has completed 15 years of service. Drusti Daan, under her effective stewardship as its vice-president, is one of the best performing eye banks in our State and the country today. Having had completed her graduation with Economics Honours from the Delhi University in 1960, she tied her nuptial knot then to a brilliant Sanskrit scholar and a young IAS officer of Odisha cadre S Sundararajan. She took to social service with the support of her husband and worked for the Home for the Healthy Children of the Hansen’s patients, Shelter Home Sutahat, Cuttack and leprosy Home (children’s wing), Cuttack. She is also a former secretary and president of the Bhubaneswar ladies’ Club. She displays an air of uncanny workaholic spirit and robust optimism although she is caught in her mid-seventies by now.
“The story of the Drushti Daan’s sanguine success goes to our dedicated staff members and our trained EDCs (eye donation counsellors), retrieval technicians and to every team member and leader,” says Sudha Sundararajan while remembering with nostalgia the efforts of a few handpicked persons, doctors and specialists who then scraped along the pinching times to set up the Ddrushti Daan. In an interview to The Pioneer, Sudha Sundararajan spoke to Sugyan Choudhury at her residence in Bhubaneswar.
How did you stumble upon the idea of Drushti DaanIJ
Drushti Daan as its name suggests is eye donation. We did not have any such facilities in Odisha; and so, many of our friends decided to have such a facility at Bhubaneswar. We worked together and have been able to usher in a movement by now. Its main activities and concern are eye donation, eye care and eye banking.
Do you collect the whole eye or any part of itIJ Is it going to solve the whole eye problemsIJ
Actually, we do not collect the whole eye. Technology has advanced so much that we only collect the cornea, which is a transparent tissue covering the black portion of the eye. This outermost covering of the eye, called cornea, is retrieved, because of which the face does not get disfigured.
We only collect the cornea. Secondly, as you say, it is not going to solve the whole eye problems. Cornea transplant is feasible at the moment. Hence, we collect cornea; and as per our practice and procedure, donate it to the corneal blind for removal of corneal blindness only.
Do you have a band of trained cornea specialists to deal with the casesIJ What’s the procedure to carry on this taskIJ
Our best staffs are our eye donation counsellors. They consult the bereaved family for eye donation. Then, our trained technicians come to retrieve the cornea. Meanwhile, our trained counsellors check up with the donor family whether it is a fit case for donation or not. Our trained technicians retrieve the cornea. Then, our surgeons come to take it to the eye bank. Here, we have an evaluation technologist, who determines or grades whether it is for the optic use or for therapeutically purposes. Thereafter only, we release the cornea for use of the concerned persons. As you told, here we need cornea specialists to transplant it; only trained and competent specialists who can perform the task. We don’t supply cornea to any ophthalmologist or any eye surgeon. This transplant is to be done in a keratoplastu centre, which has to be registered with the Government of Odisha. That’s the procedure.
How many operational centres are under your control and supervisionIJ
Actually, our main centre is at Bhubaneswar in the campus of the lV Prasad Eye Institute. But it is an independent centre that works as per our rules and regulations. Secondly, for the retrieval side, we have come to know that a majority of the assured donors are from the Government hospitals. It is because definite deaths take place in hospitals. We have our counsellors who consult the bereaved family members and obtain their consent for eye donation. At present, we have eye donation centres at Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack, Kendrapada District Headquarters Hospital, Jajpur DHH, RGH Rourkela, IGH Rourkela, Baleswar Government hospital and Baripada Government hospital. These are our centres from where we get our corneas. last year, we obtained 1,119 corneas, out of which 904 were utilised. As much as 80% of the Drushti Daan’s corneas are utilised against the all-India average of 50%. This shows the Drushti Daan is the best not only in Odisha but also in the country. This is because of the fact that we observe strict procedures during our collection.
What are your plans for days ahead as the Drushti Daan is gaining steady momentumIJ
We are expecting very good eye donation activities in days ahead. You will be surprised to know that this year alone, we have collected 5,000 corneas, which is a milestone in the Drushti Daan’s history. Now, we are concentrating on patients to utilise the same. We are unable to utilise it in full as we are not able to fully identify the cornea blinds owing to lack of an adequate number of staffs and due to resource crunch. Secondly, we don’t have adequate numbers of cornea transplant surgeons in our State. Thirdly, we do not have enough keratoplastu centres in the State. We sincerely expect the much-needed cooperation from the State Government to increase the number of cornea transplant centres across the State for effective utilisation of the corneas. At present, it is limited to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar because of concentration of cornea surgeons at these two places only. Given the support of the Government for a broader canvas, we can explore new horizons for our State.
Presently, we are concentrating on identifying cornea blinds in a phased manner by providing transplants to the cornea blinds in one block in each district. But then, it will be a long-drawn project. Only if the Government steps in, it will be a faster project for banishing cornea blindness from our State.
What kind of cooperation you expect from the GovernmentIJ
We need adequate numbers of field staffs to identify the cornea blinds. If the ASHA Workers of the Health Department could be asked to support us then by working together we can identify the cornea blinds and utilise the corneas. Maybe, the Government can spare periodically some of its ophthalmologists to join the task. For identification and for providing statistics about the cornea blinds, we need Government support. We also need Government support for establishment of more transplant centres and for providing more cornea surgeons in the Government hospitals who would extend their services to the cornea blinds as and when we approach them in the hospitals.
How do you ensure high standards in Drushti DaanIJ
We have been maintaining high standards. For furthering our goal in training, quality control and exposure to the international eye banking standards, we are affiliated to Sight life, a global health organisation, the headquarters of which is in the USA. The Sight life has helped us maintain high standards.
Who do you want to give credit for the Drushti Daan’s successIJ
No single individual deserves the credit. It is an ideal team work of excellence. All our staffs, counsellors, retrieval technicians, members of the management and tem leaders together deserve the unequivocal credit for the success story of the Drushti Daan.