Telangana’s Govt Eye Hospital to transport corneas in public transport buses to boost donation and transplantations

To give a boost to cornea donation in Telangana’s rural districts, State run Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital in Hyderabad charted plans to transport the tissues — placed in ice boxes — in buses of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC). They would enter into an agreement with the transport juggernaut in a few days.  

The network and process

The corneas would be harvested at Government Medical Colleges, attached to Government Hospitals, in Siddipet, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Warangal, store it in preservative solution, place it in an ice box and hand it to a driver of a bus headed to the city who would inform the Eye Bank at the hospital upon reaching the city. The hospital’s staff would collect it from the driver, said Modini P, Superintendent of the S.D. Eye Hospital. They have received positive responses from TGSRTC. 

While there is a dire need for more corneas, the tissues are harvested only from hospitals in and around the city, but not at government health facilities in the four or other districts, she said. The network, titled ‘Network to Sight’, has been put in place to get corneas from various parts of the State to the eye bank at the government hospital, to be used for transplantation. From April to August this year, around 50 Cornea transplantations were performed at the government health facility.

PGs trained

Ophthalmology Post Graduate (P.G.) students in the government hospitals of the four districts were trained in harvesting the tissues and eye baking techniques (use of aseptic techniques and sterile environments for handling eyes).

Dr. Modini said that Corneas can be harvested up to six hours after death of a person, after receiving consent from family members. After placing the tissues in a preservative solution, it has to be stored in a  fridge at 4-8 C. The cold chain has to be maintained during transportation too. If anyone wants to donate their family member’s corneas, they can dial S.D. Eye Hospital’s Eye Bank number 9121433434 within six hours of a death of the person.