About Us
The Lions International Eye bank was founded on 30th June 1984. Initially, it was named as Netrajyothy Eye Bank. Once it was affiliated to INTERNATIONAL Eye Bank, it was named as LIONS INTERNATIONAL EYE BANK in the year 1995.
The eye bank is a member of EBAI & adheres to international standards.
The founder chairman of the eye bank is Late Padmashri Ln. Dr. B.L.S Murthy, Manandi Nanjunda Shetty Nagasundaramma, Ms. Karen O Sullivan Baltimore, President of International Federation of Eye and Tissue Banks, USA are the main sponsors of Eye Bank.
An Eye bank is approved by Govt. of Karnataka under the Transplant of Human Organs Act (THOA).
ETHICS OF EYE BANK
- Donation is only after death
- Eyes are never purchased nor sold directly or indirectly
- The Recipient receiving the cornea will not be known to the Donor family
- Donor family cannot choose the recipient
Why one should donate Eyes?
- The cornea is the clear, transparent tissue covering the front of the eye.
- Anyone of any age can donate eyes, even if they have undergone cataract surgery, wear spectacles, contact lenses or suffer from any systemic diseases.
- Eyes are never removed from a living person.
- Once death occurs in a family, call the nearest eye bank immediately.
- The donor need not be taken to the eye bank. The team comes and removes the cornea without disfiguring the face.
- The cornea has to be removed within 6 to 8 hours of death and can be preserved for up to seven days.
- Vision can be restored with a corneal transplant
India – Challenges for the Right to Sight
In India, only 10% of eye transplantation demands are met due to a lack of availability of corneas. There are over 1.5 million people in India who suffer from corneal blindness out of which 80% of cases related to blindness are preventable.
Corneal blindness is one of the most important causes of blindness in India and this can be treated by corneal transplantation, but due to lack of cornea donation, people continue to be on the wait-list.
Facilities in our Eye Bank
- 24×7 Service
- Dedicated Eye Bank team consisting of a doctor, eye bank technician and ambulance driver for collecting Cornea.
- Laminar Flow Hood for Cornea processing
- Donor Tissue Evaluation by Slit Lamp, Specular Microscopy
- Serological Screening of the donor blood sample
- Preservation in storage media
