Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra on Friday declared Punjab a ‘Corneal Blindness Free State’ by claiming that it has successfully accomplished the target of clearing backlog of corneal blindness.
Mohindra said that the backlog of bilateral corneal blindness had been cleared in record time after taking over the reins of the state.
He also expressed satisfaction at the results of Blindness Control Program while reviewing the progress made to clear the backlog of treatable corneal blindness (blindness because of diseases of cornea).
As per the data available with the state Health Department, now there was no old case suffering from bilateral corneal blindness in the state, he added.
The Minister said that corneal blindness contributed to about 0.90 percent of total blindness in India. Punjab Health Department took the initiative for ‘Corneal Blindness Backlog Free (CBBF) Punjab’, and till date, more than 1,350 keratoplasties had been performed on corneal blind patients.
He informed that from March 2017 to April 2018, 1,119 corneas had been procured and 735 corneal transplant surgeries (keratoplasties) had been performed in registered Keratoplasty Centers of Punjab.
Mohindra said that it was an uphill task for the state like Punjab to get coordination from all the stakeholders to achieve this coveted tag of Corneal Blindness Free State. All the stakeholders performed their duties diligently especially NGOs and social organizations, he added.
State Nodal Officer of Blindness Control Program Dr Areet Kaur thanked NGOs, especially Rotary Eye Bank and Eye Donation Association, Hoshiarpur, for doing excellent service of promoting eye donation.
She further lauded Eye Surgeons in the private sectors, especially Dr Shakeen Singh from Amritsar, who did 219 free keratoplasties in 2017. The Eye Donation movement would be further strengthened in the coming months so that there is no waiting time for Corneal Blind patients, she added.
“There are only 178 patients awaiting surgery now and all these are fresh cases,” she said while complimenting Punjab Health Department for the achievement saying that Punjab has set a model for other states to emulate.