AWARENESS OF EYE DONATION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS OF HUBLI CITY, KARNATAKA

Background: According to WHO estimates India has 10 million blind population .Corneal problems cause a significant proportion of blindness India. Although effective strategies to prevent corneal blindness are likely to be more cost-effective, visual rehabilitation by corneal transplantation remains the major treatment for restoring sight in those who already have corneal blindness. The requirement of donor corneas per year is at least 20 times the current procurement. Objectives: To study the knowledge and attitude of college students towards eye donation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a pre-structured, pre-tested questionnaire to solicit information from students of 8 colleges in Hubli and Dharwad. Results: Totally 403 students from 8 colleges were part of the survey. 96% students aware about eye donation and knew that eyes can be donated after death. Majority (61%) knows that eyes should be donated within 6 hours. 69% believe that there is no age limit for eye donation. 68% are of opinion that eye donation will not cause disfigurement of face, among them females were more aware than males. 33.4% knows that only cornea is used in eye transplantation.78.1% are willing to donate eyes. Conclusion: These data shows that although majority were willing to donate eyes there is still more potential for obtaining cornea. By the survey we got to know that weak eye sight, religious belief, afraid of invasive process and social stigma are the important reasons for not donating eyes. We also need to educate students to overcome social stigma regarding eye donation