Just 3 months after marking 200,000 corneal transplants, surgeon-volunteers from the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) Cureblindness have successfully performed the first tissue transplants in Eritrea, a country in east Africa.
Give me a quick refresher on HCP.
HCP Cureblindness is an independent, non-profit organization with the goal of eradicating preventable blindness across the globe.
Launched in 1995 by ophthalmologists Sanduk Ruit, MD, and Geoff Tabin, MD, and headquartered in Vermont, the nonprofit works to deliver practical, sustainable, high-quality, and low-cost eye care to blind patients in underserved communities (of over 20 countries) via $25, 10-minute cataract surgeries.
To date, HCP has provided +1.9 million surgeries, 13.3 million screenings, and basic treatments, and trained over 19,000 ophthalmic personnel in 19 countries.
How do corneal transplants come into play?
SightLife International, a global health nonprofit—acquired by HCP in March 2023—is dedicated to eliminating corneal disease-caused blindness via a network of partners by creating corneal health-based sustainable strategies and programs.
Since its launch in 2009, SightLife has assisted in restoring sight and preventing blindness for +225,000 patients across the globe and provided clinical training for +7,000 healthcare providers.
That’s incredible. Now, talk about these transplants.
The volunteer surgeons performed a total of four cornea transplants on patients who were previously bi-laterally blind—an “historic first,” HCP stated.
Eritrea’s first transplants took place at a recent “high-volume surgical outreach held in partnership with the Berhane Ayny Eye Hospital'' located in the capital city of Asmara.
Where did the corneas come from?
All four corneas were donated from the United States as part of HCP’s work in eye bank development.
The organization's network and connections allow for a shortened timeframe for collecting quality tissue matched with a surgeon’s request.
To note, HCP has trained 700+ eye bankers in the proper handling and management of cornea tissue as well as established multiple centers for training surgeons and other eye bankers to utilize viable donations.
Gotcha. So why focus on Africa?
First off, let’s give you some stats:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 25.3 million people in the African Region have a form of visual impairment (with 5.9 million estimated to be blind.).
Further, 15% of the global blind population is estimated to come from Africa.
Wow. And Eritrea?
Eritrea, as with a number of countries in Africa, has limited (if any) access to corneal donations “due to lack of eye banking services and not having an established culture of donation of organs.”
Thus, HCP is currently working with the country’s Ministry of Health to enable cornea transplants and cataract surgeries within the country in the future.
And since 2019, the nonprofit reports it has performed 2,400+ cataract surgeries in Eritrea.
I’m interested in supporting this work … how can I get involved?
Click here for details on joining, fundraising, and making a donation to SightLife’s efforts.
Click here for HCP fundraising details, here for donations, and here to inquire about volunteer opportunities.