A senior ophthalmologist, Alluri Bhaskar Rao, from the city died while undergoing COVID treatment in a private hospital in Vijayawada on Saturday, according to his family members here. He was 67 and is survived by his wife and two sons.
Bhaskar Rao had been treating patients, including those suffering from COVID-related complications till recently, Indian Medical Association Andhra Pradesh chapter immediate past-president R. Jaya Sekhar said.
Bhaskar Rao, a prominent member of the District Blindness Control Society, harvested thousands of corneas by founding the Ongole Eye Bank in his long innings of service.
He led the Ongole chapter of the Indian Medical Association(IMA) and also steered Indian Red Cross Society(IRCS) as its Prakasam unit Secretary and used all his persuasive skills to impress upon the members of GenX to come forward to donate blood, noted IRCS president Prakash Babu.
Thanks to his efforts in raising awareness, more people in the district had come forwarded to donate their organs, including eyes, said a fellow doctor Mani Babu. He used to feel there was a long way to go as there are 4.5 million visually-challenged persons in the country. At least three million of them can gain eyesight through cornea transplant if more people agree to donating eyes after death.
Bhaskar Rao performed many cataract surgeries for people from the downtrodden sections free of cost under the DBCS programme, after holding medical camps in the Nallamala forests.
