Cornea Donation Doesn’t Meet Increased Demand in Vietnam

The central Eye Hospital announced that nearly 40,000 people agreed to give their corneas. The news was released at a ceremony to honor good deep of cornea donors and the fifth anniversary of establishment of the Eye Bank on November 28 in Hanoi. Professor Do Nhu Hon, the hospital’s director, said that around 40,000 people had so far registered to give their corneas to eye patients. In addition, the bank has received 461 corneas from donors after dead. Nguyen Huu Hoang, director the eye bank, said that Vietnam has currently over 30,000 blind people due to cornea problems who need eye transplants. Especially, the country has around 15,000 fresh blind people due to cornea problems. Though there is a steady increase in cornea donors, the quantity of collected cornea can not meet the demand. As per the hospital’s figure, up to thousand blind people are waiting for transplantations. (Sai Gon Giai Phong – Saigon Liberation Nov 28)