Rs one b allocated this year to develop Eye Bank

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

The National Eye Bank of Sri Lanka (NEBSL) has been evaluated and accredited as one of the best eye banks in the world and the best in Asia by experts from the US, India and Philippines who inspected the bank in September last year, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala said.

"It serves both local and foreign patients,

"Rs. one billion has been allocated this year from the health budget of Rs. 100 billion to provide drugs, medical equipment and new building complexes to the NEBSL" he said,

Addressing the gathering during the first anniversary of the NEBSL which was declared open by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in February last year, Dr. Mahipala said that former Indian President Dr. A.P, J. Abdul Kalam who visited the bank recently stated that the NEBSL was the best eye bank he had ever seen. The National Eye Bank was established in 1962. The NEBSL used 90 per cent of corneas to cure local patients and the balance(10 per cent wasused to cure foreign patients). The bank harvested 400 corneas to date and has done 350 cornea transplants. It shared 15 corneas with the other countries in the region.

The Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre, Prof. Donald Tan said that the bank donates corneas to other countries in the region and the Colombo South Teaching Hospital to be covered by the Eye Bank improvement project by May this year. It is also planned to send corneas to the Singapore Eye Bank for processing. The NEBSL alleviate the long waiting list existed in the bank.

The majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhists and they donate eyes after their death considering it as a great act (Punyakarma) which bless their next birth. Sri Lankan people register themselves with the NEBSL and declare their consent to donate eyes once they die. The consent rate is over 80 per cent. Corneas are transplanted mostly for young patients between the ages of 21 and 30. The transplant rate is 93 per cent. Most of the eye donors (41 per cent) died from heart diseases.

NEBSL Director Dr. Sisira Liyanage, NEBSL Manager Dr. Charith Fonseka, a delegation from Singapore, NEBSL and Health Ministry officials were present.