A new study says that more people are willing to donate their eyes for studies than those registered.
A donate Life America report found that over 46,000 corneas were transplanted in 2012. Eye donations are not restricted to transplants but are even used for scientific studies. A study led by a Michigan State University student found that more people are willing to donate their eyes than the ones that are actually registered as donors.
"A lot of people aren't aware they can donate their eyes to research," Andrew Williams, a third-year MSU College of Human Medicine student who led the study, said in a press release. "They don't really know how to get the process started. It comes down to a lack of education."
The study was conducted on 200 people out of whom 90 percent expressed their willingness to donate their eyes. 77 percent of the participants who weren't registered gave "non-prohibitive reasons" for not registering as donors though they were willing to donate their eyes. A few said they didn't register because they were never asked to while others claimed they thought their eyes to be "too diseased" to donate.
While registering as an organ donor, many people are not aware that to become an eye donor, a separate box may need to be checked in most cases as being an organ donor and an eye donor are two different things.
William revealed that the complex process of becoming an eye donor may be one of the reasons why many people don't register. The number of human eyes donated for research declined 28 percent between 1997 and 2004.
He suggested that states should simplify the process and flag people who are willing to donate their eyes. Also, most doctors are afraid to ask their patients if they would like to donate their eyes. However, 41 percent of the participants in the study said they would prefer learning about eye donation from their doctors while 37 percent said they preferred learning about the donation from a pamphlet rather than a doctor.
"We were concerned about the doctor-patient relationship," Williams said, "but our thought was that it seems reasonable to have a pamphlet in the waiting room."
Though 90% of Americans say they support donation, only 30% know the essential steps to take to be a donor. This May, Facebook took an initiative to help donors register online and received immense support and positive response.
