The Hindu Business Line : LV Prasad Eye Institute sets record in cornea transplants

GLIMMER OF HOPE: A technician of L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad shows a harvested cornea at the Ramayamma International Eye Bank of the institute on Monday. The hospital proposes a community eye bank to meet the growing demand for corneas. - A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , July 12.

IN times when getting organs is still difficult, the Hyderabad-based, L.V. Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), has created a record of sorts, when it managed to obtain over a thousand corneas and successfully transplanted them into 1,031 persons, giving full sight in a single year — 2003-04.

More than half the cornea transplants were done free to the poor patients. According to the Director, LVPEI, Prof Ravi Thomas: "This is perhaps the highest number in a year ever from a single centre anywhere in the world in cornea transplants."

During the last few years, the specialised hospital has been doing over 800 cornea transplants annually, while harvesting nearly a thousand corneas. It has trained hospital professionals, volunteers to motivate family members to donate, networked with Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and created world-class facilities such as the Ramayamma International Eye Bank, which have resulted in the stead growth over the years, he told newspersons today.

Dr Gollapalli N. Rao, Chairman and founder of the LVPEI, said while the annual demand for corneal transplants in the country was over one lakh, about 8,000-9,000 are being done at various centres. In Andhra Pradesh alone, while the demand was about 10,000, the total performed is about 1,200.

He said the Hospital Cornea Retrieval Programme (HCRP), launched by LVPEI with the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in 1988, has helped in increasing the availability and transplantation of the cornea. The network has now been increased with four more hospitals joining — Osmania General, CARE, Medwin and Yashoda in Hyderabad.

Dr Rao said to give a fillip to the programme a `Community Eye Bank' has been proposed to meet the demand in Hyderabad to start with. The Eye Bank would be autonomous with a separate Board and linked to multiple donation centres.

A Website with waitlist would be established to meet the demands on first-come-first-serve basis. If five such Eye Banks are set up, they can take care of the entire requirements of the State, he said.

The LVPEI Chairman said a Canadian organisation — Eyesight International, based in Vancouver had offered to support a Rs 10 crore network of Eye Banks to meet the country's requirement.

The proposal found favour with the erstwhile State Government last year and details were being worked out.

More Stories on : Health | Medical Institutions & Hospitals | Andhra Pradesh

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