According to Major General (Retd) Rehmat Khan, there is a significant disparity between the supply and demand for corneas in Pakistan and around the world, with corneal blindness accounting for up to 15% of all cases of blindness.
He urged the masses to donate corneas and pointed out that in the previous thirty years, only two people had donated corneas and people were reluctant to do so for various reasons.
A media representative reported that Americans are donating corneas to Pakistani patients because residents are reluctant to volunteer for this charity event.
According to him, in August 2018, the first-ever eye bank was established on the premises of the Rawalpindi Trust with the assistance of the American organization Oversight. There, individuals can submit their will to donate corneas.
He went on to say that because corneal donation is so scarce in the country, 53% of eye patients do not have access to donated corneas; as a result.
He went on to say that corneas from old people can be removed and transplanted into the eyes of much younger people.
According to Major General (Ret) Rehmat Khan, Al-Shifa Trust has started corneal transplants at its Sukkar hospital in addition to its facility in Rawalpindi.
Eighty percent of all surgeries performed at Al-Shifa Eye Hospitals in Rawalpindi, Sukkar, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, and Chakwal are free.
