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EYE DONATION
The eye banking movement itself is more than 6 decades old with the first eyebank in the world being established by Dr.R.Townley Paton, MD in 1944 at the Manhattan Eye , Ear and Throat Hospital. The procurement and supply of donor cornea to the corneal surgeons is the primary goal of Eye Banks
As per government of India figures (National programme for control of blindness); India has 1.3 million people suffering from corneal blindness. 75% of this is curable by cornea transplants; one of the most successful organ transplant processes. It is important to understand that majority of these 75% are children and adults ; underscoring the need for a lasting solution to this problem. The economic burden of this and the sheer human suffering can only just be imagined.
http://www.ebai.org/html/experiencecornealblindness.htm
As mentioned, corneal transplants are the only cure for corneal blindness. A common guesstimate says that while annually the country needs around 100,000 corneas to clear the backlog, only 40,000+ odd are harvested. 50% of the harvested tissues cannot be used for transplantation because of associated medical reasons. The major reason, for this very low retrieval rate are misconceptions about the process and myths.
Eye Banking at Dr.Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital
Though the hospital has a long tradition of performing corneal transplants, Eye Banking as an initiative started at the hospital from 2004. Prior to this, the need for corneal tissues were met by voluntary donations from other eye banks across the country. Starting from a very humble 10 tissues collected in the year of formation, the initiative now routinely collects around 300 tissues per year.
The eye bank at the hospital is registered with Ministry of Health, Government of India and is also a life member of the Eye Bank Association of India .
SCEH Eye Bank is headquartered at Delhi Campus. It also has Eye Donation Centres at Shamli, U.P. and Alwar, Rajasthan.
The Eye Bank celebrates the National Eye Donation fortnight every year by organizing its annual event 'Amarjyoti' at the Delhi Campus. The function felicitates familes of cornea donors and invites cornea recipients to share their stories. Leaders and dignitaries have graced the occasion over the years.
Today many consider it as the fastest growing Eye Bank in North India.
Case Story
YATINDER - SIX YEAR OLD - GLAUCOMA AND CATARACT PATIENT
Changing the life of a 6 year old...
Yatinder, a bubbly 6 year old full of energy has a story to tell. Within one year of his birth, white spots were noticed in both his eyes. He was unable to focus on any object or for that matter walk without assistance.
In gwalior, he was diagnosed as having congenital glaucoma and cataract but was advised to wait till he turned atleast 5 years old. Out of depression, his mother committed suicide in the same year.
Finally in 2009, yatinder was brought to Delhi by his grandparents and father with a lot of hope. The surgeries were done but unfortunately were unsuccessful. The pall of gloom once again descended on the family and they resigned themselves to a life of misery for the poor child.
Fate brought them to the doors of an NGO which works with slum children and they brought the family to Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital. The team examined the boy and concluded that he was suffering from Corneal Blindness. A corneal transplant was the only solution.
And then began the wait for someone somewhere to donate a tissue so that a little child could see again.
Fortunately in yatinder's case, it was a wait of only a month with the eye banking team at the hospital making it a personal mission. Simultaneously, the donor relations team moved mountain and earth to generate resources for the complex surgeries. Making a living by selling pakoda's at a roadside stall, yatinder's father had already exhausted his meager savings in the travel and previous surgeries and was on the verge of committing suicide.
Post corneal transplants, his functional vision has been restored and yatinder can see and count objects. His laughter and energy has to be seen to be believed.
Many more such heartwarming stories can be possible...
The success or failure of this humanitarian initiative totally depends on each and every citizen of India. Corneal donation is completely voluntary and can only be affected after the demise of a person and with the consent of immediate family members.
Join us in bringing light into someones dark world...
Hospital Cornea Retrieval Programme
This is a special initiative under which trained grief counsellors are posted in the ICU's/casualty of partnering hospitals. In the event of death, it is the duty of the Grief Counsellors to sensitize the immediate family members about how the donation of corneas of the departed soul can possibily benefit upto two people. Incase of a positive response, the grief counsellor liases with the retrieval team (24*7) and all possible efforts are made to successfully retrieve the tissue and ensure transplantation.
Our Partner HCRP Hospitals
Pledge your eye's
FAQ's:
Q.1. Who can be an eye donor?
A. 1. Anyone can be a donor irrespective of age, sex or blood group.
Q.2. Do religious authorities approve of donating one's eyes?
A. 2. Yes. All religious faiths support this vital sight restoration programme.
Q. 3. Is the whole eye used for transplant?
A. 3. No. Only the thin transparent layer in front of the iris called the cornea is used for transplant.
Q. 4. Do cataracts or the use of spectacles render the corneas unfit?
A. 4. No. Both these conditions relate to the lens of the eye and not the cornea.
Q. 5. Does eye donation disfigure the donor's face?
A. 5. No. The removal of eyes does not produce disfigurement nor does it interfere with the customary funeral arrangements.
Q. 6. Does the human body reject the transplanted donor's cornea?
A. 6. Corneas do not have any direct blood supply so the risk of rejection is very low. Rejections, if they occur, can be suppressed by timely medication.
Q. 7. What conditions render corneas unfit for donations?
A. 7. Corneas of persons suffering (in their last days) from AIDS, Jaundice, Rabies, Syphilis, Tetanus, Septicaemia, Viral diseases, Hepatitis B & C, Blood Cancer & Dengue are considered unfit for donation.
Q. 8. What about diabetes or hypertension?
A. 8. Even donors with these conditions can donate their eyes.
Q. 9. How will my donations be used?
A. 9. After the eyes are removed, they will be evaluated, processed, screened, and then supplied to the eye surgeon for transplant.
Q.10. Is there any use for corneas which are for some reasons not used for transplant?
A.10. Corneas that for technical reasons are not for vision restoring corneal transplant, are invaluable for research.
Q.11. Do corneal transplants guarantee sight to all blind people?
A.11. No. Transplants only help when the loss of sight is solely due to corneal defect and the rest of the eye's mechanism is intact.
Q. 12. How quickly should the eyes removed after death?
A. 12. As soon as possible, but eyes can be removed upto 6 hours after death. However, in places where the climate is hot such as ours a shorter duration preferably 2 to 4 hours is advisable.
IQ. 13. Is it necessary to transport the donor to the hospital after death?
A. 13. No. Eyes banks have personnel who will come to the donor's home and remove the eyes. The procedure takes approximately 30 - 45 minutes.
Q. 14. What is an Eye Bank?
A. 14. It is the link between the donor and recipient/eye surgeon. It is an organization recognised by the government to collect and distribute human eyes to those who requires cornea transplants.
For any specific query on eye banking or eye donation, Please contact our eye banking team at
donateeyes@sceh.net or call on 43524444, 43528888
To request a cornea Retrieval ; Please call on: (M) 9810460678 / 9873208336/ 9810107787
( 24 Hours service)
The eye banking movement itself is more than 6 decades old with the first eyebank in the world being established by Dr.R.Townley Paton, MD in 1944 at the Manhattan Eye , Ear and Throat Hospital. The procurement and supply of donor cornea to the corneal surgeons is the primary goal of Eye Banks
As per government of India figures (National programme for control of blindness); India has 1.3 million people suffering from corneal blindness. 75% of this is curable by cornea transplants; one of the most successful organ transplant processes. It is important to understand that majority of these 75% are children and adults ; underscoring the need for a lasting solution to this problem. The economic burden of this and the sheer human suffering can only just be imagined.
http://www.ebai.org/html/experiencecornealblindness.htm
As mentioned, corneal transplants are the only cure for corneal blindness. A common guesstimate says that while annually the country needs around 100,000 corneas to clear the backlog, only 40,000+ odd are harvested. 50% of the harvested tissues cannot be used for transplantation because of associated medical reasons. The major reason, for this very low retrieval rate are misconceptions about the process and myths.
Eye Donation Registration Form
Eye Banking at Dr.Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital
Though the hospital has a long tradition of performing corneal transplants, Eye Banking as an initiative started at the hospital from 2004. Prior to this, the need for corneal tissues were met by voluntary donations from other eye banks across the country. Starting from a very humble 10 tissues collected in the year of formation, the initiative now routinely collects around 300 tissues per year.
The eye bank at the hospital is registered with Ministry of Health, Government of India and is also a life member of the Eye Bank Association of India .
SCEH Eye Bank is headquartered at Delhi Campus. It also has Eye Donation Centres at Shamli, U.P. and Alwar, Rajasthan.
The Eye Bank celebrates the National Eye Donation fortnight every year by organizing its annual event 'Amarjyoti' at the Delhi Campus. The function felicitates familes of cornea donors and invites cornea recipients to share their stories. Leaders and dignitaries have graced the occasion over the years.
Today many consider it as the fastest growing Eye Bank in North India.
Case Story
YATINDER - SIX YEAR OLD - GLAUCOMA AND CATARACT PATIENT
Changing the life of a 6 year old...
Yatinder, a bubbly 6 year old full of energy has a story to tell. Within one year of his birth, white spots were noticed in both his eyes. He was unable to focus on any object or for that matter walk without assistance.
In gwalior, he was diagnosed as having congenital glaucoma and cataract but was advised to wait till he turned atleast 5 years old. Out of depression, his mother committed suicide in the same year.
Finally in 2009, yatinder was brought to Delhi by his grandparents and father with a lot of hope. The surgeries were done but unfortunately were unsuccessful. The pall of gloom once again descended on the family and they resigned themselves to a life of misery for the poor child.
Fate brought them to the doors of an NGO which works with slum children and they brought the family to Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital. The team examined the boy and concluded that he was suffering from Corneal Blindness. A corneal transplant was the only solution.
And then began the wait for someone somewhere to donate a tissue so that a little child could see again.
Fortunately in yatinder's case, it was a wait of only a month with the eye banking team at the hospital making it a personal mission. Simultaneously, the donor relations team moved mountain and earth to generate resources for the complex surgeries. Making a living by selling pakoda's at a roadside stall, yatinder's father had already exhausted his meager savings in the travel and previous surgeries and was on the verge of committing suicide.
Post corneal transplants, his functional vision has been restored and yatinder can see and count objects. His laughter and energy has to be seen to be believed.
Many more such heartwarming stories can be possible...
The success or failure of this humanitarian initiative totally depends on each and every citizen of India. Corneal donation is completely voluntary and can only be affected after the demise of a person and with the consent of immediate family members.
Join us in bringing light into someones dark world...
Hospital Cornea Retrieval Programme
This is a special initiative under which trained grief counsellors are posted in the ICU's/casualty of partnering hospitals. In the event of death, it is the duty of the Grief Counsellors to sensitize the immediate family members about how the donation of corneas of the departed soul can possibily benefit upto two people. Incase of a positive response, the grief counsellor liases with the retrieval team (24*7) and all possible efforts are made to successfully retrieve the tissue and ensure transplantation.
Our Partner HCRP Hospitals
- Maharaja Agarsen Hospital
- Jaipur Golden Hospital
- Saroj Hospital
- Tirath Ram Shah Hospital
- MGS Hospital
- Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute
- Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital
- Fortis Hospital, Noida
- Pushpanjali Hospital, Ghaziabad
- 10.Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon
Pledge your eye's
FAQ's:
Q.1. Who can be an eye donor?
A. 1. Anyone can be a donor irrespective of age, sex or blood group.
Q.2. Do religious authorities approve of donating one's eyes?
A. 2. Yes. All religious faiths support this vital sight restoration programme.
Q. 3. Is the whole eye used for transplant?
A. 3. No. Only the thin transparent layer in front of the iris called the cornea is used for transplant.
Q. 4. Do cataracts or the use of spectacles render the corneas unfit?
A. 4. No. Both these conditions relate to the lens of the eye and not the cornea.
Q. 5. Does eye donation disfigure the donor's face?
A. 5. No. The removal of eyes does not produce disfigurement nor does it interfere with the customary funeral arrangements.
Q. 6. Does the human body reject the transplanted donor's cornea?
A. 6. Corneas do not have any direct blood supply so the risk of rejection is very low. Rejections, if they occur, can be suppressed by timely medication.
Q. 7. What conditions render corneas unfit for donations?
A. 7. Corneas of persons suffering (in their last days) from AIDS, Jaundice, Rabies, Syphilis, Tetanus, Septicaemia, Viral diseases, Hepatitis B & C, Blood Cancer & Dengue are considered unfit for donation.
Q. 8. What about diabetes or hypertension?
A. 8. Even donors with these conditions can donate their eyes.
Q. 9. How will my donations be used?
A. 9. After the eyes are removed, they will be evaluated, processed, screened, and then supplied to the eye surgeon for transplant.
Q.10. Is there any use for corneas which are for some reasons not used for transplant?
A.10. Corneas that for technical reasons are not for vision restoring corneal transplant, are invaluable for research.
Q.11. Do corneal transplants guarantee sight to all blind people?
A.11. No. Transplants only help when the loss of sight is solely due to corneal defect and the rest of the eye's mechanism is intact.
Q. 12. How quickly should the eyes removed after death?
A. 12. As soon as possible, but eyes can be removed upto 6 hours after death. However, in places where the climate is hot such as ours a shorter duration preferably 2 to 4 hours is advisable.
IQ. 13. Is it necessary to transport the donor to the hospital after death?
A. 13. No. Eyes banks have personnel who will come to the donor's home and remove the eyes. The procedure takes approximately 30 - 45 minutes.
Q. 14. What is an Eye Bank?
A. 14. It is the link between the donor and recipient/eye surgeon. It is an organization recognised by the government to collect and distribute human eyes to those who requires cornea transplants.
For any specific query on eye banking or eye donation, Please contact our eye banking team at
donateeyes@sceh.net or call on 43524444, 43528888
To request a cornea Retrieval ; Please call on: (M) 9810460678 / 9873208336/ 9810107787
( 24 Hours service)