29 May,2009 08:44 AM IST | | A correspondent
Puneu00a0ranked second in state with 1,138 donations of cadaver corneas
While Maharashtra has emerged as a leading state under the National Programme of Control of Blindness (NPCB) by collecting over 5,000 corneas of dead persons, Pune ranked second in state with 1,138 donations.
"We have successfully collected 5,885 corneas for the first time under the NPCB during 2008-09," said R M Kumbhar, assistant director of NPCB. With the state achieving highest ever figure, the official credited civic hospitals, which have started the facility of eye donation, for the success. "Earlier, the eye donation facility was not available at civic hospitals and only private hospitals and eye banks had it. After starting it in civic hospitals, the results are really good," he said.
The response to eye donation was more in cities, with Mumbai leading with 2,595 corneas being collected in the metropolis, followed by Pune.
Other cities like Nagpur (623), Jalna (206), Thane (191) and Akola (122) also contributed to the noble cause, Kumbhar said. Rural areas such as Yavatmal (22), Washim (22), Akola (16), Bhandara (14), Jalgaon (14), Sindhudurg (10) and Amaravati (10) also responded well after awareness drive, he added.
