A unique instance of South Asian regional cooperation unfolded when a Mumbai-based eye surgeon operated on a blind man from Lahore at an eye hospital in Colombo earlier this month.
The extraordinary circumstances arose after the Pakistani patient was unable to get an Indian medical visa despite four months of follow up at his end as well as by eye surgeon Dr Quresh Maskati from Mumbai. “As I was scheduled to go to Colombo for a conference, I approached Sri Lankan Medical Council for a licence to operate on the patient there and it agreed,” said Dr Maskati. With help from local eye surgeon Dr Kusum Rathnayake, he carried out the operation in Colombo on Sept 13.
The patient, who returned home on Sept 24, said he could see his family, including his seven-year-old daughter, for the first time in four years. “While cleaning our attic, a bottle of alkaline solution broke and its content poured onto my head and face,” said the 30-year-old. His right eye was completely damaged, and specialists performed corneal transplants twice on his left eye but both attempts failed.
“As his only hope was an artificial cornea, his local doctor got in touch with me,” said Dr Maskati. He met the patient when he visited Pakistan for a conference and felt an artificial cornea would work. Partial vision of the patient was restored within 48 hours of the operation.
The patient, who couldn’t work since he lost eyesight, chose India over the US because of the costs. While the artificial cornea prosthesis costs over Rs 200,000 in the US, it is manufactured in India under a special licence agreement with the US inventor for Rs 10,000. The procedure costs between Rs 100,000 and 150,000 here.
