Cornea donation is no taboo 

"How good it will be if my eyes can see the beautiful world even after my demise." This is the desire of many forward-looking and progressive people, who opt for donation of eyes or corneal tissues which facilitate restoration of vision of those suffering from cornea damage. Unfortunately, the number of people with similar thinking is microscopic in Bangladesh, which is why the country has to depend on external sources for corneal tissues.

Lately, Bangladesh has received corneal tissues from Nepal and transplanted them to restore the vision of two students injured during the anti-discrimination movement in July and August. The two are waiting to see the splendorous world again after recovery from the surgery. According to information compiled by the state-run National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital, over 400 people suffered from eyesight damage, including at least 70 from corneal damage, after being hit by pellets during the movement spearheaded by students.

The corneal transplant for students performed just several days ago marks the first such transplants facilitated by Nepal-based Seva Foundation following its earlier commitment to provide Bangladesh with 40 corneas to aid those in need.

Why has Bangladesh required collecting corneas from Nepal? It is because cornea donation rate here is too low for various reasons, particularly religious and societal norms or taboos and a lack of awareness. Official data show 7.5 million people are suffering from low vision and vision impairment in Bangladesh, of whom more than 5,00,000 are suffering from corneal diseases and await corneal transplantation. Eye banks throughout the country are working to collect corneas to reduce blindness caused by corneal damage. But, not many corneas have been collected from local sources and eye hospitals are trying to acquire them from abroad.

Some patients, particularly those from the well-off section, prefer going abroad for cornea transplants due to scant availability of corneal tissues in the country, but what is happening to the less fortunate people? Most of them have to keep waiting for corneal tissues from external sources for an indefinite period and even many of them cannot see anything again until the last day of their lives.

In Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country, corneal tissue donation, like other organ donation, is generally considered impermissible under the Islamic law though many Muslim scholars have given fatwa or religious rulings in favour of cornea donation as long as certain conditions are met. In December 2018, the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) issued a fatwa, ruling that cornea donation is permissible, along with other types of organ donation, if it is administered with first-person authorisation, minimises harm to the donor, and if the donation does not relate to reproductive organs. The UK-based Muslim Law (Shariah) Council in a fatwa stated that organ transplantation is permissible after death and that brain-stem death is a proper definition of death.

Muslim scholars in Bangladesh have a big role in disseminating the fatwas of the global Islamic scholars to break the long-held taboos on cornea donation. But before that they themselves need to accept those fatwas. Muslim scholars enjoy a huge influence on society and any statement from them in favour of anything good can bring in a positive change.

The government bodies concerned, eye banks and organisations working for eye care also need to run campaigns to raise awareness about the positive features of cornea donation. We wish to see the days when Bangladesh will no longer require corneal tissues from outside, rather it will provide overseas people in need with the tissues.

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