English

Abstract

BACKGROUND : Corneal blindness is one of the most common causes of treatable blindness in India. The only treatment option available for corneal blindness is transplantation of donor corneas that are obtained through eye donation, upon a person's death. The number of corneal transplants done is far less than the actual requirement in India. This is largely due to the inadequate number of corneas collected. The Para medical professionals play an important role and can contribute by participating in creating awareness and motivating people to become eye donors. AIM : To assess the awareness of Para medical staff from different hospitals towards eye donation. SETTING: Raichur, Karnataka, India. METHODOLOGY: Survey RESULTS: The majority of Para medical staff (n=200) (94%) was aware about Eye Donation. 90% knew that eyes can be donated after death. The major source of information was from the mass media/ TV/radio/ movies (43.5%).And 13.5% knew about the ideal time for eye donation. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that Among the paramedical staff who were not willing to donate eyes the major reason was lack of interest and other reasons being weak eye sight, religious belief and afraid of invasive process. Only media publicity is not enough to increase the awareness regarding Eye Health Care and Eye Donation. It requires sustained efforts from trained paramedical personnel, NGOs and religious groups in creating awareness and motivating people. Inclusion of different preventive and curative aspects of corneal blindness along with basic eye health care into the paramedical course curriculum is the need of the hour.