Cornea Transportation via RTC Buses

Hyderabad: The Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital has come up with a unique way of spreading awareness about eye donation: The corneas in protective boxes will be carried in RTC buses. The hospital's eye bank has been linked to hospitals in districts where corneas are harvested and are transported to Hyderabad through TGRTC buses.

"Bus drivers have been informed about the process. Once information about cornea harvestation is received, the drivers reach the hospital at least an hour in advance. Once harvested, the cornea is transported in ice boxes and brought to Hyderabad. Our ambulance picks it up from the depot and brings to our eye bank, where it is stored and transplanted the next day," said P. Modini, superintendent of the SD Eye Hospital.

This is part of the hospital's 40th fortnightly celebration of the cornea transplantation awareness programme, which began on August 25 this year and will end on September 8. The transportation initiative is called 'Network to Sight'. Hospitals in other districts, such as Siddipet, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Waranga,l have been participating in the programme.

In collaboration with Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, the hospital has also initiated a training programme for postgraduate students in harvesting corneas. "The cornea is harvested within six hours after death and stored in a fridge between 4-8º Celcius in a preservative solution. It can be transplanted within 15 days," the hospital superintendent said.

The facility has finished around 50 transplants from April to August this year. Those interested in donating corneas can contact 9121433434. The entire process of tissue transplantation is overseen by Jeevandan, which is a regulatory body and registry of all transplants done in the state.