The bank, located at 1147 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ward 5, District 5, was set up as a further step of the association’s program titled “Bringing light to poor people”, which has been implemented since 1994.
At the inaugural ceremony for the bank, Tran Thanh Long, president of the association and director of the eye bank, said, “The eye bank is a non-profit charitable organization, which was founded to call for cornea donations among the public to help bring light to the blind.”
The bank will receive, assess, and preserve the donated corneas, and will supply them to health units for transplants for the blind.
About 1,000 people, including many monks and priests, have so far registered to donate their corneas after death, the association said.
The country has more than 300,000 blind people who need to have cornea transplants, but most of them have to live in the dark due to a shortage of cornea supply, according to the association.
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. The time limit for removing corneas from a donor is 6-8 hours after the person’s death.