Singapore Eye Bank celebrates its 25th anniversary of providing human corneal tissue to patients who need a corneal transplant. The Singapore Eye Bank was founded in 1991 and has been managing a local Hospital Eye Donation Programme and actively participates in the national multi-organ donation programme.
The cornea is the transparent layer forming the front of the eye. Corneal donation has restored the sight of patients suffering from corneal blindness.
In 2015, the eye bank has received the highest number of cornea donations of 222, from 127 donations the year before. The local waiting list has dropped by 32%.
A recent 2016 study on global transplantation rates has revealed that Singapore is the only Asian country within the top 10 countries which have the highest per capita transplant rate. It is also among the top three Asian countries in corneal tissue procurement per capita, along with Sri Lanka and India. According to combined statistics from public hospitals in Singapore, the consent rate of potential donors and donor families is between 50% to 65%
“Over the years we have seen the growth of a meritorious and gracious society, eye donation has steadily increased with 2015 being our best year yet. We recognise that though at a difficult time of bereavement, many Singaporeans are opting to making the decision to give the gift of sight to another. We are especially grateful to the many donors and donor families who has benefitted the lives of others”, Professor Donald Tan, Medical Director of SEB.
The Singapore Eye Bank is looking into more means of making it easier to obtain surrogate or familial consent, such as phone interviews to achieve higher rates of procurement of cornea donations.
