Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi, Sept 14: A grand event called ‘Blindfolded Run for Vision’ was organized today as part of the 38th National Eye Donation Fortnight. The event was held at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium in Khelgaon, Ranchi, in collaboration with the Eye Donation Awareness Club and Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank. C.P. Radhakrishnan, the Governor of Jharkhand, Health Minister Banna Gupta, and Member of Parliament for Ranchi, Sanjay Seth, flagged off the race by releasing colourful balloons into the sky. In this run, numerous students from Ursuline Convent School, Sports Academy, and many individuals from the city participated.
This year’s Run for Vision had a special theme as it was a ‘Blindfolded Run.’ Youth and children ran while blindfolded with their eyes covered, emphasizing the importance of eye donation. The Blindfolded Run for Vision event conveys a heartfelt message about eye donation to society and fosters a sense of mutual cooperation. The primary objective of this event was to raise awareness about eye donation among the public.
The winners of the Run for Vision and Painting Competition were honoured by Health Minister and MP Sanjay Seth. Officials of IMA Jharkhand, IMA Ranchi, FJCCI, Ursuline Convent School and Jharkhand Sports Department were honoured for promoting eye donation awareness.
Dr. Bharti Kashyap, Medical Director, Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank said that “every year for the last 21 years, we have been organizing a large-scale blood donation awareness campaign Run for Vision and are also organizing the Blind Folded Marathon since 2018. The then Governor, Draupadi Murmu also not only participated in this program for 5 consecutive years but also promoted eye donation in Jharkhand by filling the affidavit of eye donation. Till now 806 eye transplants have been done and from the year 2022 till now, 159 eye transplants have been done in Jharkhand by Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank whereas the target of Jharkhand was 150 in 2022-2023”.
“We have a long list of corneal blindness and a shortage of local eye donations. Therefore, there is a need for networking among eye banks so that local eye donation can be promoted and the patients will also get convenience and the position of our state will look good in the field of eye transplantation”, she added.
The Governor said, “We should help everyone while we are alive, but by donating eyes after death, we can help someone even after death by bringing light in their dark life.” He praised the eye transplant and eye donation campaign being carried out by Kashyap Memorial and Eye Donation Awareness Club.
Health Minister Banna Gupta said, “159 eye transplants have been done by Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank in our state, more than the fixed target of 150 for 2022-23, but due to sourcing of cornea from outside the cornea distribution system, it is not counted in our state. Only local eye donations are visible in our state’s count. Therefore, it is necessary to establish coordination among the eye banks so that the local eye donation goes to those eye banks which order corneas from outside. This will make the situation of eye donation in the state look good at the national level.”
MP Sanjay Seth said, “We should donate our entire body, just a few days ago a senior member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad passed away and he donated his entire body. Body donation is a good tradition.”
Health Secretary Arun Singh said that the government’s eye banks are not working as per the target and are not able to show alertness during late-night donation calls. Whereas the non-government Eye Bank has done 159 cornea transplants more than the target of 150 in 2022_23. The working capacity of the State Organ Transplantation Organization in the state will have to be increased.
What is a blind fold run?
The participants in this race run together in pairs. Out of which one participant has a blind fold i.e. a black bandage in his eyes. The one without the bandage helps him to run in the right direction on the track at a uniform speed. Due to this, the tendency of mutual cooperation develops in the society.
