Nairobi — Kenya is in the process of establishing an eye bank, making it the first in East Africa to successfully harvest and transplant the organ.The eye bank will provide corneas for transplant surgery to remove damaged parts and replace them with healthy ones from donors.

A memorandum of understanding for the establishment of the first eye bank in East Africa was signed by Rotary Club of Nairobi President, Mr Diamond Lalji, and the Nairobi Hospital Chief Executive Officer, Dr Cleopa Mailu, in the presence of the Honorary Rotary Ophthalmologist, Dr Mukesh Joshi.

It costs Sh112,000 to have one cornea transplant as the organ has to be imported from America.

The Nairobi Hospital will house the eye bank and provide laboratory support and operating theatre facilities for patients.

The bank will help to reduce the rate of corneal blindness, especially among teenagers, who are losing their sight due to the affliction.

In the joint venture, Dr Mukesh Joshi will train operating theatre assistants at the hospital to harvest the eyes donated.

Funds from the Rotary Club of Nairobi and a matching grant of Rotary International and local individual and corporate donors will finance the equipment required for the eye bank.

In the past 20 years, the Rotary Club of Nairobi has conducted free corneal grafting surgery on a regular basis.

Corneas for the operations have been donated by several eye banks in the United States such as Tissue Bank International and the San Diego Eye Bank.

The Nairobi Rotary club appeals to Kenyans to pledge their eyes before death. "If the eyes are harvested within 12 to 18 hours after death, disease free eyes will be sources of corneas for transplant surgery," explained Dr Joshi.

He added: "After the corneas are collected, a special contact lens is used to cover the deceased person's eyes and the body will have a completely normal appearance."