Abstract

Visual impairments have physical, emotional, social, and economical effect and are a crucial element in influencing quality of life. A total of 1.285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide of which 39 million are categorised as blind. Corneal transplantation remains the best available option for visual rehabilitation. Based on the current accessibility of donor eyes and its consumption rates, it is projected that 2,70,000 donor eyes will be needed to complete 1,00,000 corneal transplants per year in India, a fourfold increase over current donor eye availability.