UNB, Dhaka :
As eye donations remain substantially low in the country due to religious superstitions and lack of awareness and motivation among the people, Sandhani National Eye Donation Society (SNEDS) has called upon people to come forward to donate their eyes posthumously for restoring the eyesight of millions of blinds.
In a statement on Friday marking the 30th death anniversary of Dr Aleem Al Razee to be observed on Sunday, SNEDS President Prof Dr Ali Asgar and Secretary General Prof Dr A.K.M Salek urged all to follow the noble example set by Dr Razee by donating their eyes posthumously.
They said, Dr Razee sympathising with the visually-impaired people bequeathed his eyes to two such helpless persons enabling them not only to visualise the colour, beauty and splendors of the world but also earn their livelihoods.
One of them was a rickshaw-puller and the other a truck driver both of whom remained ever grateful to Dr Razee for the restored gift of their lost sights.
SNEDS faces a formidable challenge as the gap continuously widens between the number of visually-impaired due to corneal opacity which now stands over 10 lakh and that of the committed posthumous eye donors numbering below 40,000 only.
This is notwithstanding the facts that eye donations have been institutionalised by the passage of an appropriate eye donation law in 1985 followed by another act adopted in 1999 that also included the donation of other human organs besides the eye.
SNEDS came into existence in November 1984 with the noble aim of eye collection, preservation and transplantation, particularly among the poor, and launching motivational and educational progarmmes. Its services have now expanded to include other types of eye surgeries as well as treatment of eye diseases.
As eye donations remain substantially low in the country due to religious superstitions and lack of awareness and motivation among the people, Sandhani National Eye Donation Society (SNEDS) has called upon people to come forward to donate their eyes posthumously for restoring the eyesight of millions of blinds.
In a statement on Friday marking the 30th death anniversary of Dr Aleem Al Razee to be observed on Sunday, SNEDS President Prof Dr Ali Asgar and Secretary General Prof Dr A.K.M Salek urged all to follow the noble example set by Dr Razee by donating their eyes posthumously.
They said, Dr Razee sympathising with the visually-impaired people bequeathed his eyes to two such helpless persons enabling them not only to visualise the colour, beauty and splendors of the world but also earn their livelihoods.
One of them was a rickshaw-puller and the other a truck driver both of whom remained ever grateful to Dr Razee for the restored gift of their lost sights.
SNEDS faces a formidable challenge as the gap continuously widens between the number of visually-impaired due to corneal opacity which now stands over 10 lakh and that of the committed posthumous eye donors numbering below 40,000 only.
This is notwithstanding the facts that eye donations have been institutionalised by the passage of an appropriate eye donation law in 1985 followed by another act adopted in 1999 that also included the donation of other human organs besides the eye.
SNEDS came into existence in November 1984 with the noble aim of eye collection, preservation and transplantation, particularly among the poor, and launching motivational and educational progarmmes. Its services have now expanded to include other types of eye surgeries as well as treatment of eye diseases.
