100,000 corneal blind people in Bangladesh

FE Team | Published: October 20, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
A two-day International Eye Bank symposium begins today at Hotel Sheraton.
The symposium is jointly organised by ORBIS Interna-tional, Sandhani National Eye Donation Society, LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
President Iajuddin Ahmed will inaugurate the symposium. A K M Zafar Ullah Khan, Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will also be present at the inaugural ceremony as the special guest. Dr G N Rao, Distinguished Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute, India and President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) will present the keynote paper on "Corneal Transplantation Services in Bangladesh".
Eye Bank experts from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Iran and the USA will participate in the symposium and will also deliver lectures and facilitate scientific discussion sessions at the symposium.
Senior government officials from Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, representatives from ORBIS's partner organisations, senior ophthalmologists from the country will also attend the symposium.
There are about 100,000 corneal blind people in Bangladesh. Many of their sight could be regained through corneal transplant. With this view ORBIS has supported Sandhani to strengthen the eye bank through a project titled : "Strengthening Eye Banking Capacity of Sandhani National Eye Donation Society".
This support has enabled Sandhani to establish an international standard eye bank with a highly competent managerial and technical team that could independently manage the eye bank.
During last two years corneal tissue collection of Sandhani has increased manifold.