Over 550 take pledge for eye donation in Berhampur city

Members of Friends Helping Club
taking out a rally in Berhampur city Photo: Lingaraj Panda

A rally was organised jointly by different organizations of Berhampur city to promote eye donation which is picking up in a big way in the city. Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Suryakiran Patnaik, Head of the Department, ophthalmology, MKCG Medical College R.C. Mohapatra, associate professor of the department B.N.R. Subudhi, S.N. Raut of district blindness control society, students of MKCG Medical College, and members of different social organizations took part in the rally.

Through placards and slogans, they tried to motivate people towards eye donation. Around 550 persons took pledge for eye donation. Most of them were senior citizens. They promised to submit these forms after getting it filled with the consent of their family members.

Berhampur city has the reputation of excelling in voluntary eye donation in the State. Friends Helping Club (FRC), a philanthropic organisation of the city, takes the pride to be the organisation to have motivated largest number of voluntary eye donations in the State. Till date, it motivated 92 eye donations in the city.

H. Suresh, director of eye donation motivation campaign of FRC, said in recent times, eye donation picked up in a big way among the families of trading community in the city and it is spreading to other families. Dr. Subudhi, who played a major role in the eye donation campaign in the city during past decade, said it was a welcome change that people have started to realise that corneas from a dead relative can gift vision to two persons.

Source: The Hindu