Dr Bakulesh Khamar’s drug has revolutionised eye donation

Gujarat, which tops the country in the number of eye donations, has also emerged as a leader in efficient usage of donated pairs of eyes.

During the recent times, every pair of donated eyes has been utilised with optimum effectiveness, thanks to the discovery of a miracle drug by a city-based ophthalmologist.

A few years ago, sometimes many pairs of donated eyes were wasted as they could not be used within the specific time-frame of 24 hours of extraction. However, with Dr Bakulesh Khamar’s discovery of K-M Medium, the optimum utilisation of the donated eyes has become a reality.

Though the discovery of K-M Medium, a synthetic viscous medium for preservation of the cornea, was made way back in 1995, it was globally accepted only in 2007.

“Since the new drug K-M Medium was put to use globally as a new synthetic viscous medium for preservation of the cornea, the longer and easier storage of donated eye has become possible. With increase in use of this cheaper option, the wastage of the donated pair seldom occurs,” says Dr Khamar.

Dr Khamar, who is a member of M and J Institute of Ophthalmology, Ahmedabad, is also a member of research advisory committee at Indian Institute of Advanced Research, a project of Puri Foundation for Education in India.

The doctor, however, has allowed the discovery to be used for social cause.

Though he patented the drug, he made it to lapse so that no other party could get commercial gain and that eye donation could be promoted with the help of the cost-effective new drug.

Now, the new synthetic viscous medium, K-M medium, has globally replaced the usage of old drug, M K Medium. The main advantage of the new drug is that it does not require surgical procedure for preservation of the eyes.

“The new drug is injected into the pair of donated eyes and the life of the eyes increases to 5 to 7 days,” says Gautam Majumdar, of CS International Red Cross Eye Bank which has 75 centres in the state.

About 8 to 10 pairs of eyes are donated daily in Gujarat. Earlier, it was hard to maintain the inflow and outflow of the donated eyes as the eyed had to be used within 24 hours.