When the EBE formed, there were no corneal transplant surgeons trained in the country and Orbis, the first INGO in Ethiopia focused on sight restoration, helped blaze the trail for this to be the first transplantation facility of any kind in country. past President, Girma Woldegiorgis, who pledged his own corneas to raise awareness at the inauguration.Īccording to the national blindness study released in 2006, it was estimated that 300,000 Ethiopians were blind due to corneal scarring. So far in 2018, 144 corneas have been transplanted. Founded in 2003 by a tripartite agreement among the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa City Administration Health Bureau and Orbis International Ethiopia – and governed by a Board of Trustees – the EBE and its efforts have grown.įrom 2003 to 2017 the EBE successfully distributed 1,818 corneas for transplant, and out of these 1,192 transplants were done in the last six years following its partnership with SightLife and Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP). The Eye Bank of Ethiopia (EBE) today celebrates its 15 years of service reversing corneal blindness through the collection and processing of donor corneas.Īs one of the only functional national eye banks in sub-Saharan Africa, the EBE serves the entire country.
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