Indore: Cornea Transplants To Begin At District Hospitals

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): In a major step to make cornea transplant surgeries more accessible, the state government has announced that such procedures will soon be available at all district hospitals, including Indore. Until now, patients in need of cornea transplants were limited to government medical colleges or private hospitals.

To facilitate this expansion, doctors are undergoing specialised training at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Medical College in Indore. According to Dean Dr Arvind Ghanghoria, MGM is the first medical college in Madhya Pradesh to launch such a training program.

The 15-day course began on August 1, and one batch of doctors has already completed it. Once trained, these doctors will be posted in district hospitals across the state, where they will begin performing transplant surgeries.

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However, experts caution that despite the training initiative, absence of eye banks in district hospitals could severely restrict the programme’s success. Eye banks are essential for preserving donated corneas, and without them, surgeries cannot be carried out.

Dr Madhav Hasani, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), said that so far, no clear instructions or provisions have been issued for setting up eye banks, deploying staff, or providing required infrastructure at the district level.

Meanwhile, MY Hospital Superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav said that National Eye Donation Fortnight has started from August 25 and will continue till September 8. He noted that after blood donation, eye donation is the most common, followed by other organ donations. In Indore, institutions such as MY Hospital, Shankar Netralaya, and MK International Eye Bank have been active in the field of eye donation and transplants.