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Eye Bank
The
Ramayamma International Eye Bank
According to the World Health Organisation, there are about 10 million blind
and visually disable persons in India. Of the 10 million blind persons
nearly nearly 2.5 million have corneal
blindness-a condition that can be corrected by replacing their damaged or
diseased corneas with healthy corneal tissue obtained from human donor.
LVPEI set up the Ramayamma
International Eye Bank (RIEB) in 1989. The RIEB is a member of the
International Federation of Eye and Tissue Banks (IFETB), USA, and the Eye Bank
Association of India (EBAI). Today it is the model eye bank for the whole of
South East Asia and particularly the Indian sub-continent.
The RIEB has the infrastructure,
facilities, and staff expertise to attend to the entire gamut of activities
associated with eye banking, from core activities like cornea retrieval,
evaluation and distribution, to wider functions such as training, research and
the conducting of public awareness campaigns.
The eye bank is named after the late
Mrs. Ramayamma, in whose name the funding contribution was made, and it runs
exclusively on donations made by voluntary organizations and
philanthropists.
The Core Activities
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Cornea Retrieval
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Evaluation and Distribution
Wider functions:
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Training,
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Research and
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Conducting public awareness campaigns.
Eye Bank Network
Over the past 18 years, RIEB has set standards of excellence in eye
banking in India as well as elsewhere in the developing world. It has also
contributed to the increase in the number and quality of eye banks and eye
banking facilities across India and especially in Andhra Pradesh, by setting up
an effective network of eye banks. Three eye donation centres have been set up
at Nidadavole, Tanuku, and Suryapet.
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