The Ramayamma International Eye Bank
The Ramayamma International Eye Bank (RIEB) is the largest provider of sight restoring corneas in India and a SightLife Center of Excellence in Eye Banking. Since its establishment in 1989, RIEB has greatly increased the collection of transplantable donor corneas and elevated eye banking performance standards in India and other parts of the developing world. As a leader in eye banking across south east Asia, RIEB has contributed significantly to the effective networking and proliferation of eye banks through promotion of community eye banking programs.
More recently RIEB helped expand eye banking into Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam with collaboration and support from Eyesight International, Canada, and SightLife, USA. These efforts are augmented by our eye bank training programs, initially supported by Eyesight International and ORBIS International, USA.
RIEB’s staff makes use of state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure and continuous improvement through training to execute all aspects of community eye banking including:
- Recovery, evaluation and preservation of donor tissues
- Distribution of tissues for corneal transplantation
- Research in cornea preservation and decontamination techniques
- Public awareness programs
From our modest beginnings with seminal support from the Ramayamma family and as an International Federation of Eye Banks affiliate we have grown over the years into an independently functioning eye bank and resource centre. We have provided the gift of sight to thousands of people and continue to make strides in our ability to provide corneas to needy recipients each year.
Along the way, we have received support for different areas of our work from Rotary International, Sightsavers International of UK, Christoffel Blindenmission of Germany, ORBIS International and Eyesight International.