Overview
India has emerged as a leader in eye donation. A single donor can provide two corneas, each capable of restoring sight through corneal transplantation. Despite progress, the demand far outstrips supply.
Key Developments
- India now has 396 functional eye banks, up from previous years.
- Corneal collections rose from 62,370 (2022‑23) to 69,848 (2024‑25).
- The NPCBVI is funding infrastructure, training, and storage media for eye banks.
- Government hospitals are encouraged to start HCRP and embed donation counselling in end‑of‑life care.
- Private eye hospitals, such as the expanded National Eye Bank at AIIMS Delhi, are partnering with other hospitals to create retrieval networks.
- NGOs, Lions Clubs, and community groups are mobilising awareness campaigns in schools, colleges, and rural areas.
Important Facts
Approximately 2 million Indians are blind due to corneal opacity, yet only 40,000 corneal transplants are performed annually. This gap underscores the urgency of improving the donation‑to‑transplant chain.
Exam Relevance
The issue cuts across multiple GS papers. PPP models are essential for scaling eye‑bank capacity and ensuring quality transplants. Understanding NPCBVI’s role helps answer questions on health policy implementation, while the statistics on eye banks and blind population are useful for data‑driven answers in GS1. Moreover, the involvement of NGOs highlights the importance of civil society in health outreach, a frequent theme in GS4 (Ethics).
Way Forward
- Strengthen eye banks with modern storage media and trained technicians.
- Expand HCRP to all tertiary hospitals and integrate donation consent into routine death certification.
- Launch a nationwide awareness drive using mass media, school curricula, and community NGOs to dispel myths and encourage pledges.
- Formalise PPP agreements that define roles, quality standards, and monitoring mechanisms for private eye hospitals.
- Set a target to increase annual transplants from 40,000 to at least 100,000 by 2030, aligning with the goal of reducing corneal blindness.
By closing the loop—from awareness to consent, retrieval, and high‑quality transplantation—India can turn the gift of eye donation into the gift of sight for millions.