MUTARE The government should enact a law that allows people to donate body parts after death, an official said this week.Chairperson and founder of Eyes for Zimbabwe, Dr Emmanuel Mutasa told The Zimbabwean that donating eyes would help the country to reduce cases of lifetime blindness. We are appealing to relevant authorities to enact laws that allow people to donate eyes so that we can have our own eye bank, he said.
The eye specialist said it was worrisome that the country had to rely on donations from other countries. Mutasa said an artificial eye is placed after the original one is plucked out such that it wont be noticeable at body viewing. He also said HIV, hypertension and diabetes tests were carried out before the transplant.
Mutasa said blindness was happening at an alarming rate due to an increase in diabetic infections in the country. People who are diabetic should be checked regularly because this has been the most common cause of blindness the world over, he said.
Mutasa said his organization received 20 corneas from an eye bank in San Diego, California. Over the years, Eyes for Zimbabwe has helped restore sight to thousands of people in both urban and rural communities.
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