Social Images of Eye Donation:the Pathway Towards Making a 'Gift of Sight'

Abstract

Stupendous possibility of scientific and technological advancement in the field of health care services, the corneal transplantation emerges as a mechanism to enhance the life of a corneal blind person. The number of corneal transplantation has increased with the decrease in graft failure.The institutionalization of corneal transplantation and eye donation has blurred the line between human and machine.This brings a transformation in the outlook of people towards body and eye in the society.The body is considered as a machine and cornea (part of eye anatomy) is regarded as spare part which can be exchanged to replace the healthy donated cornea with the damage cornea of a recipient.The paper seeks to understand the perception towards dead body and willingness for eye donation in the society. The symbolic meaning attached with body and eye in the society is also outlined in the paper.The aim of the paper is to describe the representation of eye and willingness for eye donation among students of Panjab University and its affiliated colleges in Chandigarh,India.