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Keep children away from lime packets: Dr Titiyal
"AN Alarming number of children are suffering from chemical injuries in their eyes, in the high betel and tobacco consumption states. The children are accidentally getting exposed to the empty lime packets used by the betel lovers, who simply litter them on roads. The chemical contents in the lime causes serious eye injury to the children," said Prof (Dr) JS Titiyal, Head Cornea and Refractive Surgery Services, RP Centre of Ophthalmology, AIIMS New Delhi.
"AN Alarming number of children are suffering from chemical injuries in their eyes, in the high betel and tobacco consumption states. The children are accidentally getting exposed to the empty lime packets used by the betel lovers, who simply litter them on roads. The chemical contents in the lime causes serious eye injury to the children," said Prof (Dr) JS Titiyal, Head Cornea and Refractive Surgery Services, RP Centre of Ophthalmology, AIIMS New Delhi.
In a special interview to HT Allahabad Live, renowned eye surgeon Dr Titiyal said a large number of children from Lucknow, Allahabad, Bihar and Assam are being treated at AIIMS, who accidentally got exposed to the empty lime packets, used by their elders. Due to lack of awareness, these packets are simply littered on the roads.
The street children pick up these packets and while playing get exposed to the chemical content of lime powder. "The trend of such type of chemical injury is alarming in children and there is need to spread greater awareness about the proper disposal of lime packets," he added.
Expressing concern on high blindness rate in children, Dr Titiyal said apart from hereditary, refractive errors and nutritional deficiency, a large number of children suffer from blindness due to trauma or festival injury, which is common in UP.
"There is no formal community survey, but still two to four per cent children suffer from blindness due to different reasons, in India," he said.
Dr Titiyal also laid stress on the involvement of entire family in the eye donation programme.
"It will not make any difference, if a single member of a family makes a pledge to donate eyes after death. It was found that out of 1000 eyes collected by the centre's Eye Bank, only three per cent people have pledged for donating eyes.
But if the entire family will make the pledge to donate eyes, then definitely they will fulfil each other's commitment," he said.
Dr Titiyal said religious thinking was the major factor for poor eye donation in India. "Even the law cannot enforce eye donation, in our country. We need at least two lakh eye donations every years to get rid of backlog. But we are barely receiving 15,000 to 20,000 eyes only. However the agencies like Orbis is establishing eye banks in remote places like Orissa to promote eye donation. For the first time, the school children are being involved in the eye donation programme. In comparison to adults, they are more firm in their commitment to donate eyes," he stated.
