EDITORIAL: The visiting Honorary Medical Director of Sri Lanka Eye Bank … has made a plea for Pakistan to launch a vigorous campaign for securing donations of eyes locally. He has emphasised this in the context of the acute shortage of corneas for transplantation and the difficulty in obtaining the needed supply from external sources. According to one estimate, there are well over 25,000 corneal blind persons in the country, a large number of whom could be cured of their affliction if only sufficient eyes could be obtained for transplantation. …

As the shining example of Sri Lanka has clearly shown … it is possible to enlist a large number of donors to ensure a steady stream of corneas. … Progress on this score has so far tended to be rather slow because of a continuing lack of awareness among the people of the magnitude of the problem. … However… a voluntary organisation, which has been running an eye bank in the city … has recently launched a campaign for popularising the idea of donation of eyes with encouraging results. A group of Karachi University students and other volunteers … are said to have enlisted 3,000 volunteers so far.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2023