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Friday, January 22, 2010 - 05.30 GMT |
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SL Eye Bank,
world's biggest human eyes donor - Japan
Times |
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Sri
Lanka’s
International
Eye Bank
is one
of the
world's
biggest,
human
eyes
donor
restoring
vision
to
people
in as
many as
57
countries,
including
Japan,
said
Japan
Times.
It said
that the
Sri
Lanka
Eye
Donation
Society
in
Colombo
is the
gift of
sight
flown to
many
parts of
the
world.
The
Manager
of the
International
Eye
Bank,
Janath
Matara
Arachchi
told
Japan
Times
that
they
have
supplied
nearly
56,000
donor
corneas
to 117
cities
in 57
countries
over
9,000 to
Japan,
as of
Sept. 9.
He said
the eye
bank
realized
there
was a
vast
potential
to
collect
donor
eyes in
this
country,
over 10
times
what
could be
used
here,
owing to
a
worldwide
shortage
of donor
eyes.
The
Buddhist
concept
of "dana,"
or
giving,
was the
root of
their
success.
They
believe
that it
is an
act of
great
merit to
gift
their
eyes
after
death to
someone
living
who
would
have the
gift of
sight.
Over
870,000
people
have
signed
consent
forms
asking
us to
take
their
eyes
after
they are
dead, he
explained.
We have
sent
more
eyes
abroad
than
have
been
used
locally,
Matara
Arachchi
said.
Most of
the eyes
we
receive
are
taken
from
hospitals,
but we
commonly
visit
homes as
well. We
check
the body
for
tattoos
as well
as
injection
marks to
guard
against
possible
risk of
HIV
infection,
said Dr.
Siri
Cassim,
Director
of the
eye
bank.
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