LAST summer, the Khyber Teaching Hospital and Lady Reading Hospital, both in Peshawar, began offering free corneal transplantation surgeries. Their efforts have so far resulted in more than 100 recipients, many from underserviced areas, having their eyesight restored. Given the inextricable link between visual impairment and poverty — indeed, one national survey found its prevalence to be significantly higher among the poor — it is commendable that ophthalmologists across Pakistan volunteer their time, resources and expertise to deliver eye healthcare to patients who would otherwise be unable to afford it. But meeting the overwhelming demand for ophthalmological services requires a supply that neither the medical community nor money can fulfil. For thousands with blindness or low vision, whether by disease or trauma, that can be ameliorated with corneal transplants, it requires that their fellow Pakistanis commit to organ donation.
As this paper has often highlighted, despite our society’s immense record of philanthropy, the practice of cadaveric organ donation is virtually non-existent compared to other Muslim countries, despite multiple religious schools of thought endorsing it. Not even a luminary such as Abdul Sattar Edhi offering his eyes so that others might see has moved us to pledge to emulate his vision. Even today, eye donations in Pakistan are generated almost exclusively from abroad, typically Sri Lanka and the US. The lacuna of local donors has not only deprived the tens of thousands suffering from end-stage organ failure per year of a chance of survival, it has also allowed illegal organ trade to proliferate in the country, creating a black market in which the bodies of the poor are made into commodities. In the case of cornea donations, it is all the more vexing, given that eye tissue degenerates at a much slower rate than a deceased person’s other organs, making it likelier to be harvested and remain usable, and that cornea grafting has a 95pc success rate. Dispelling the apprehensions and lethargy of our public when it comes to organ donation requires a concerted awareness-raising drive at every level — health departments, the media and community leaders all have a role to play. For those who have benefited from eye transplants, the gift of vision will undoubtedly aid in uplifting their conditions. But there are thousands more patients hoping for their turn on an ever-increasing waiting list. We must all pledge to do better by them.
| Transgender news anchor |
No comments:
Post a Comment