Lanka donates more corneas to needy Malaysians

For the third year, the Sri Lankan Government has donated three corneas to help needy Malaysians see again, thanks to the Buddhist Maha Vihara.

The corneas, from the Sri Lanka Eye Bank, were handed to the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital recently. The hospital will decide on the recipients soon.

The program was the initiative of the Most Venerable K. Sri Dhammaratana, the Buddhist Chief High Priest of Malaysia, in memory of the late Venerable Dr K. Sri Dhammananda.

As a committee member of the Malaysian Association for the Blind, Ven. Dhammaratana knew clearly the hardships blind people face. "So I appealed to the Sri Lanka Eye Bank for help and they promised to provide us with the three corneas," he said.

He said he was fostering closer ties with the Sri Lanka Eye Bank to obtain more corneas as well as other organs to help needy Malaysians. At the same time, he would organise more campaigns and roadshows to raise awareness on organ donation among Malaysians.