The eye specialist who recently led the successful harvest and transplantation of cornea in a regional government hospital has called for more people and families to weigh in on the donation of the vital eye tissue.
Dr. Andrew Angeles, ophthalmologist and consultant at Jose B Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBL) expressed hopes that people would be more aware of the benefits of cornea donation.
“I hope people would come to realize the benefit of the (cornea) donation because there are so many patients in the waiting list. And there is lack of cornea for transplantation,” Angeles told this writer in a phone interview.
For his part, he said that he would be willing to give his own cornea and has already told members of his family of the planned donation in the event of his death.
Angeles and medical staff at JBL’s Department of Opthalmology conducted the very first successful corneal retrieval and transplant in the regional hospital. He personally handled the transplant operation which lasted less than two hours.
The actual harvest and transplant was made in the facilities of JBL in cooperation with the Sta. Lucia International Eye Bank (Eye Bank) which certified the tissue to be viable for transplantation.
Angeles said that there is a big backlog in corneal transplantation. He added that under his personal listing alone there are 20 patients in need of new cornea.
The Department of Opthalmology said the hospital has expressed gratitude to the family of the first corneal donor. Its Corneal Retrieval Team handed over a Certificate of Appreciation to the family.
“This milestone marks the first corneal transplant made possible through our institution’s corneal donation program, restoring hope and bringing the gift of sight to a patient in need,” the JBL stated in a separate FB post.
Cornea is the principal lens of the eyes that also serves as the protective shield. Corneal blindness is among the top 5 causes of visual disability and blindness around the world.
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