Massive Awareness Walk Held in Berhampur on Sixth Day of 41st Eye Donation Fortnight
Desk News,Odishabarta
Berhampur, August 30, 2026: A massive awareness walk was organised in Berhampur on Sunday, the sixth day of the 41st Eye Donation Fortnight, jointly by Friends Helping Club and Ruby Eye Hospital, with the participation of several social organisations.
Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) Mayor Sanghamitra Dalai flagged off the awareness walk at Housing Board Square.
The procession passed through the main road of Premnagar, Ramalingam Bandh and Girija Square before reaching the Friends Helping Club office at Sneham.
Members and representatives of Friends Helping Club Shakti, Manababadhi-Hetubadi Sangathan, Friends Welfare Club, Marwari Mahila Samiti, Walkers Club, Sabuj Bahini and Ruby Eye Hospital participated in the awareness programme.
At the beginning of the programme, B. Lakshminarayan Patra, Chairman of the project, briefed the participants about the objectives of the eye donation awareness campaign.
Prof. B. Nageswara Rao Subudhi, head of Ruby Eye Hospital and former Professor and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at MKCG Medical College and Hospital, addressed a roadside meeting at S.N.T. Road. He highlighted the importance of eye donation and urged people to come forward and pledge their eyes after death.
The organisers said that awareness meetings and processions are being conducted every day in different parts of Berhampur Municipal Corporation from August 25 to September 8, 2026, with the objective of encouraging members of the public to donate their eyes and help restore sight to people suffering from corneal blindness.
According to the speakers, around 30 lakh people in India suffer from complete or partial loss of vision due to corneal-related causes. Corneal transplantation using donated corneas from deceased donors can help restore vision in eligible patients.
Dr. Shweta explained in detail who can donate eyes, when eye donation should be carried out and the procedure to be followed after death. She said that if a person has expressed a wish to donate their eyes after death, family members should keep the deceased person’s head slightly elevated with a pillow and cover the eyes with moist cotton or cloth. The concerned eye department or eye bank should then be informed immediately so that trained eye specialists can reach the residence and retrieve the corneas.
She stressed that the corneas should ideally be retrieved within six hours of death. The donated corneas are preserved at an eye bank and subsequently transplanted into suitable patients suffering from corneal blindness, potentially helping them regain vision.
The speakers appealed to the public to consider eye donation before cremation or burial. They clarified that eye donation does not prevent the family from performing the deceased person’s funeral and other customary last rites.
Among those present were E.T. Rao, president of the Manababadhi-Hetubadi Sangathan; secretary K. Nandesh Senapati; Jammula Suresh; D. Mohan Rao; K. Basava Raju; Veena Bagaria, president of Marwari Mahila Manch; secretary Mamta Choudhury; Indira Choudhury, president of Friends Helping Club Shakti; former president Dr. J. Bani Sri; M. Lakshmi; T. Srilakshmi; Sivaram Panigrahi, president of Sabuj Bahini; secretary Sagar Patra; and Walkers Club members E. Keshav Rao, P. Prabhakar Rao, S.M. Pusti and P. Kumar Swami Patra.
A large number of staff members of Ruby Eye Hospital and members of Friends Helping Club, including president Anil Kumar Choudhury, secretary P. Kiran Kumar, former president K. Purushottam Subudhi, P. Srinivas Rao, Satyakam Patra, M. Vidya Sagar, Dr. Chakradhar Raju, J. Someshwar Rao and Dr. E. Jayanti Rao, also participated in the awareness drive.
