What is the cornea?

Like a camera, the eye has a lens system. The cornea forms the first transparent refractive interface of the front of the lens system of the human eye.

When do we need to do a corneal transplant?

We do corneal transplants when the cornea has opacified so that it does not transmit light anymore. Or when the shape of it does not allow a focus point to form on the retina.

Corneal tissue shortage in South Africa

In South Africa we have a waiting list for corneal tissue running into the thousands. Due to various cultural, religious and system failure reasons, the donations cannot meet the demand. Most of the tissue in South Africa gets imported at astronomical costs to the patient. These costs of course are not feasible for most of our population.

What do we need?

We need equipment to quantify the quality of corneal donations before it can be used as a transplant. A special microscope is used to measure the cellular count on the inside of the donor corneal tissue. In certain circumstances, only parts of the cornea are transplanted. This specialised transplant techniques need preparation and equipment then to prepare. The main reason for these specialised transplant techniques is to enhance the success rate of the transplant.

Sponsors will also enable the tissue bank to supply corneal tissue to those patients that cannot afford the costs involved with procurement and distribution themselves.

Advantages to sponsors

• Help the population with curing blindness.
• Getting involved with a local non-profit entity.
• Donations are 100% tax deductible with a Section 18(A) certificate.
• Free advertisement as a sponsor on our website and at events.