BHUBANESWAR: The Drushti Daan Eye Bank (DDEB) at the LVPEI Mithu Tulsi Chanrai (MTC) campus in Bhubaneswar has collected 20,000 corneas, bringing hope of sight for thousands of patients in need of corneal transplant.
Addressing the event, Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati congratulated the team and said the achievement reflected the compassion of the people of Odisha. He urged citizens to pledge their eyes to help those affected by corneal blindness.
Medical director of DDEB, Dr Sujata Das, said the milestone marked two decades of sustained effort by the team, supported by the community. She said the eye bank follows a hub-and-spoke model, with the Bhubaneswar centre as the hub and 10 hospital cornea retrieval programme centres located at district headquarters hospitals.
The model facilitates the collection and distribution of corneas and extends eye banking services to rural and semi-urban areas. Established in 2003, DDEB collected just 30 corneas in its first five years and is now among the top five eye banks in the country.
Calling it a major milestone for eye banking in eastern India, the DDEB honoured its partner organisations at a programme held to mark the occasion.