Authorities of the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH) introduced a cornea grafting facility and performed three grafts on Wednesday.

In north Bengal, the NBMCH on the outskirts of Siliguri is the oldest and largest state-run referral hospital.

Cornea grafting is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by healthy donated corneal tissue.

Indrajit Saha, the NBMCH principal, said the two corneas of a 21-year-old from Islampur of North Dinajpur, who died in a road accident recently, were collected with the consent of his family.

“Some other corneas were also collected. Yesterday (Wednesday), three grafts were done for the first time. It was a long-awaited demand and now the process has started. It will definitely help reduce blindness,” said Saha.

The three persons, two men and a woman, from Siliguri underwent the grafting. It will take more than 24 hours to know the exact result in each case, said a source.

The initiative, sources said, has been taken as part of the National Blindness Prevention Project.

Anwar Ali, nodal officer of the project and the deputy chief medical officer of health -II of Darjeeling district, said that they were working in association with Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital.

“We need more corneas and thus are working with them (the hospital) to facilitate the collection of corneas,” he said.

Nazrul Islam, the head of the ophthalmology department of the NBMCH, said they had prepared the list of prospective corneal recipients.

“We have prepared a list of 15 persons and they have been informed as well. We need to conduct tests to match the corneas. In the NBMCH as well as in other hospitals, counselling of bereaved family members so that they donate the corneas of the deceased has started,” he said.

Wellness centres

Thirteen new community wellness centres will be constructed in four blocks of Siliguri subdivision, said Darjeeling district health department officials.