Thursday, 23 September 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
In a significant development the union ministry of health has given its approval to the Gandhi Centenary Eye Hospital (GCEH) for setting up an eye collection centre. The hospital would be the first centre in the state to have this facility. The director general (DG) state health services, Dr Tripti Bahuguna has directed the hospital authorities to start the centre before November 1 this year.
The GCEH has been granted permission for starting the eye collection centre under the National Programme for Control of Blindness. The director National Health Mission, Dr Saroj Naithani said that the necessary infrastructure and facilities would be developed in the GCEH for the centre.
Terming the permission as a great achievement, Dr Naithani said the people residing in the areas near to Dehradun especially Garhwal division would get the benefit of eye transplant. She clarified that the GCEH would only act as the eye collection centre and the collected eye ball would be kept at the eye banks of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh or Himalayan hospital Jollygrant, Dehradun. It is worth mentioning here that there are more than 40,000 people with vision impairment. In India cornea transplant is done in about 50,000 people.
