Lok Sabha Question No. 1811 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-27
Subject: Eye Bank
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: S. RAJENDRAN, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1811 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 th JULY, 2018

## EYE BANK

## 1811. SHRI S. RAJENDRAN:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of eye banks functioning in the country at present, State/ UT - wise;
- (b) the number of eye donations received during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT - wise;
- (c) whether as per the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) only less than 50 per cent donated eyes collected are utilized for corneal transplantation;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for the same; and
- (e)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the Government  to  make  sure  that  the  eyes donated  are successfully utilized?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

- ( a): As per the information furnished by States/UTs, a statement showing the number of banks functioning in the country at present is given at Annexure - I .
- (b) : As per the information furnished by States/UTs, a statement showing the number of ye donations received during each of the last three years and current year (2015 - 16, 2016 - 17, 2017 18 and 2018 - 19) is given at Annexure - II .
- (c) & (d): As per available reports, about 40 - 50 percent donated eyes are utilized for corneal transplantation in States/UTs.

Prior  to  corneal  transplantation,  the  collected  corneas  are  assessed  by  tra surgeons  for  its  suitability  for  optical  keratoplasty. However,  because  of  various  medical reason s, like poor quality of collected corneas due to the reasons like, age of donor, pr - existing degeneration/diseases  etc.  not  all  the  collected  corneas  are  found  suitable  for transplantation. Hence, only healthy suitable corneas are utilized for co rneal transplantation to restore the vision of corneal blind.

However, donated corneas not found suitable or fit for corneal transplantation are either for therapeutic keratoplasty or for training and research purposes.

- (e) : The  following  st eps  have  been  taken  under  the  National  Programme  for  Control  of Blindness & Visual Impairment (NPCB&VI) for successful utilization of donated corneas:
- I. Support to Eye Banks and Eye Donation Centres to meet the cost of identified ophthal equipments, consu mables including preservation material & media for storage of donate corneas etc.;
- II. In- service training to Eye Surgeons in Eye Banking and Keratoplasty;
- III. Free supply of preservation and storage medium for donated corneas to Government Ey Banks;
- IV. Collection of eyes by eye Banks from willing donors after death and also from t patients who die in hospitals under 'Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme' for timely transplantation of corneas.
- V. Appointment of Eye Donation Counsellors in the identified Eye Banks to promote eye donation and timely collection of donated eyes;
- VI. Provision  of  dedicated  phone  line  1919  (BSNL  &  MTNL  users)  automatically  linked with the area eye banks in metro cities and new 24x7 toll free No.1800 - 11- 4770 for organ donation inc luding eye donation.

## ANNEXURE-I

## Number of functional Eye Banks in the Country, State/UT - wise (as on 24.7.2018)

| S.No.   | States/UTs                |   No. of functional Eye Banks |
|---------|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |                             0 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh            |                            14 |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh         |                             0 |
| 4       | Assam                     |                             5 |
| 5       | Bihar                     |                             1 |
| 6       | Chhattisgarh              |                             4 |
| 7       | Chandigarh                |                             3 |
| 8       | Dadra & Nagar haveli      |                             0 |
| 9       | Daman & Diu               |                             0 |
| 10      | Delhi                     |                            10 |
| 11      | Goa                       |                             1 |
| 12      | Gujarat                   |                            29 |
| 13      | Haryana                   |                             6 |
| 14      | Himachal Pradesh          |                             2 |
| 15      | Jammu & Kashmir           |                             0 |
| 16      | Jharkhand                 |                             7 |
| 17      | Karnataka                 |                            30 |
| 18      | Kerala                    |                            13 |
| 19      | Lakshadweep               |                             0 |
| 20      | Madhya Pradesh            |                            36 |
| 21      | Maharashtra               |                            74 |
| 22      | Manipur                   |                             1 |
| 23      | Meghalaya                 |                             0 |
| 24      | Mizoram                   |                             1 |
| 25      | Nagaland                  |                             0 |
| 26      | Odisha                    |                             7 |
| 27      | Puducherry                |                             3 |
| 28      | Punjab                    |                            18 |
| 29      | Rajasthan                 |                             6 |
| 30      | Sikkim                    |                             0 |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu                |                            38 |
| 32      | Telangana                 |                             2 |
| 33      | Tripura                   |                             1 |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh             |                            33 |
| 35      | Uttarakhand               |                             2 |
| 36      | West Bengal               |                            14 |
|         | Total                     |                           361 |

## State/U T-wise number of cornea collection received during the last thre

ANNEXURE-II e years and current year   (as on 25.7.2018)

|       |                           | No. of Eye donations   | No. of Eye donations   | No. of Eye donations   | No. of Eye donations   |
|-------|---------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| S.No. | States/UTs                | 2015-16                | 2016-17                | 2017-18                | 2018-19                |
| 1     | Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 2     | Andhra Pradesh            | 3115                   | 3454                   | 4142                   | 1126                   |
| 3     | Arunachal Pradesh         | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 4     | Assam                     | 394                    | 215                    | 313                    | 85                     |
| 5     | Bihar                     | 34                     | 0                      | 71                     | 0                      |
| 6     | Chhattisgarh              | 282                    | 334                    | 378                    | 84                     |
| 7     | Chandigarh                | 950                    | 1081                   | 1169                   | 173                    |
| 8     | Dadra & Nagar haveli      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 9     | Daman & Diu               | 6                      | 4                      | 4                      | 0                      |
| 10    | Delhi                     | 3575                   | 3409                   | 3699                   | 117                    |
| 11    | Goa                       | 6                      | 12                     | 4                      | 1                      |
| 12    | Gujarat                   | 8436                   | 8447                   | 8057                   | 1819                   |
| 13    | Haryana                   | 3456                   | 4397                   | 1876                   | 0                      |
| 14    | Himachal Pradesh          | 0                      | 93                     | 40                     | 0                      |
| 15    | Jammu & Kashmir           | 0                      | 0                      | 55                     | 25                     |
| 16    | Jharkhand                 | 42                     | 12                     | 38                     | 4                      |
| 17    | Karnataka                 | 3572                   | 3498                   | 5914                   | 1030                   |
| 18    | Kerala                    | 1922                   | 1973                   | 2012                   | 303                    |
| 19    | Lakshadweep               | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 20    | Madhya Pradesh            | 2208                   | 3710                   | 2414                   | 130                    |
| 21    | Maharashtra               | 7301                   | 7514                   | 7560                   | 936                    |
| 22    | Manipur                   | 59                     | 73                     | 0                      | 0                      |
| 23    | Meghalaya                 | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 24    | Mizoram                   | 127                    | 102                    | 80                     | 36                     |
| 25    | Nagaland                  | 2                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 26    | Odisha                    | 983                    | 1346                   | 1344                   | 410                    |
| 27    | Puducherry                | 1330                   | 1399                   | 1242                   | 306                    |
| 28    | Punjab                    | 773                    | 1257                   | 1274                   | 184                    |
| 29    | Rajasthan                 | 1267                   | 1522                   | 1417                   | 382                    |
| 30    | Sikkim                    | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      |
| 31    | Tamil Nadu                | 11919                  | 11204                  | 12349                  | 2426                   |
| 32    | Telangana                 | 6171                   | 7638                   | 9953                   | 3963                   |
| 33    | Tripura                   | 0                      | 6                      | 4                      | 0                      |
| 34    | Uttar Pradesh             | 827                    | 857                    | 2051                   | 617                    |
| 35    | Uttarakhand               | 207                    | 285                    | 239                    | 42                     |
| 36    | West Bengal               | 2940                   | 3794                   | 4011                   | 275                    |
|       | Total                     | 61904                  | 67636                  | 71710                  | 14474                  |