L V Prasad Eye Institute Celebrates Milestone of Performing 50K Corneal Transplants

Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Former Vice-President of India, spoke of his transformational corneal transplant surgery, through a video link.

The Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute, a centre of excellence for cornea care at the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), has performed the highest number of corneal transplants ever (over 50K), by any eye care institution in the world. This places LVPEI at the top of large volume cornea care centres in the world. The L V Prasad Eye Institute, at its Dr Kallam Anji Reddy Campus organised an evening to celebrate this milestone.

In India nearly 2% of the adult population is blind and about 13% are visually impaired. Corneal opacities are the second major cause of blindness in India among those who are 50 years and older—and the primary cause in those younger. Infection, trauma or other damage can make the cornea opaque, leaving the person blind. In such cases, the solution may be a corneal transplant, where the opacified cornea is replaced with a donor tissue.

This milestone was made possible by a committed group of surgeons and many allied teams, and the trust reposed in us by scores of supporters all over the world who were generous with their treasure, time and talent. This achievement would not have been possible but for the generosity of cornea donor families who chose to donate the precious tissue.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu speaking on the occasion via video link, congratulated the LV Prasad Eye Institute on achieving the milestone of fifty thousand corneal transplants. He said, in achieving this exceptional feat LV Prasad Eye Institute has become the world’s only institute to have done it. Bharat as a nation is proud of this extraordinary accomplishment of this institute. I followed this remarkable journey closely over the years. In fact, as one of the beneficiaries of this procedure in the very early days of this journey, I am very aware of the challenges Dr GN Rao garu and his entire team have encountered and handled at every step of the path. I distinctly recall that I had to wait for a long period of time for my surgery because of the scarce supply of corneal tissues. Today, the situation is completely different, as all of you know LV Prasad Institute has single handedly transformed the demand and supply in this challenging area. I am glad that nobody who needs a corneal transplant in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa has to wait for a corneal transplant.

The availability of corneal tissues is no more a limitation, this in itself is an extraordinary accomplishment of the Institute. In a country where organ donation is not a norm, this achievement is even more noteworthy, and the Institute deserves all the credit for this extraordinary feat. The eye banks of the institute collected more than 1,20,000 corneal tissues and have also achieved the distinction of being the biggest eye bank network in the whole of Asia Pacific Region. I appeal to the people of the country to replicate this rare achievement everywhere and ensure that there is no waiting list anywhere in the country. Performing 50,000 corneal transplantation surgeries is a milestone, which reflects not only the commitment of the Institute which excels in Ophthalmology, but also had a profound impact on transforming the lives of countless individuals suffering from blindness. LV Prasad Institute stands as a beacon of hope and inspiration for other hospitals and institutions in our country and globally, setting a new standard in the fight against corneal related blindness. Dr Rao is known for his meticulous planning and devoted work that led to this accomplishment, it underscores the remarkable progress that can be made with vision and perseverance. I am certain that your continued innovation and dedication will inspire many others to follow in your footsteps. Indeed, it’s a proud moment for me to join the LV Prasad Institute family in this celebration. I would like to wish you all every success in future endeavors and wholeheartedly support your efforts in addressing the vision impairment blindness.    

As part of the celebrations:

·         Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder Chairman- LVPEI took the gathering through the journey to reaching this milestone

·         Dr Prashant Garg, Executive Chairman-LVPEI spoke on the current state of eye banking in India and the way forward.

·         Dr Pravin Krishna, Director – Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute presented on the future possibilities in cornea transplantation with evolving technology.

The key partners and stakeholders of LVPEI’s eye bank network that have made this milestone possible were thanked for their continued support over the years.

Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder Chairman on the occasion shared, “There were many skeptics discouraging us, when we started on this journey. I am pleased that we have proved all the naysayers wrong. This has been a journey of many twists and turns, with learnings at

every turn! I am proud of my team who worked tirelessly over the years and congratulate them on reaching this milestone.”

Dr Prashant Garg, Executive Chairman – LVPEI on this momentous occasion shared, “This milestone was reached, thanks to Dr G N Rao’s determination and the commitment of many individuals and organisations both in India and oversees who supported us through their time, talent, and treasure. I thank each one of them for their support and guidance. I am proud of this wonderful team.”

Dr Pravin Vaddavalli, Director of the Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute, reiterating the institute’s mission, said, “The focus of the Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute will continue to be to push the frontiers of science and make the most appropriate treatment available to people with corneal diseases.”

About L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI)

Established in 1987, with the vision,” to create excellent and equitable eye care systems that reach all those in need,” the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a comprehensive eye health facility, is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness.

In pursuance of this vision, LVPEI clinicians and scientists work at the cutting edge of eye research. Through its five-tier ‘‘Eye Health Pyramid’ model, it has till date offered over 36.89 million services (3 crores 68 lakh services), with more than 50% entirely free of cost, irrespective of the complexity of care needed. For further information, visit the Institute’s website, https://lvpei.org/

The Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute (SSCI) was the first of the Institutes of Excellence conceived at LVPEI. Envisaged as a global resource centre, it works to impact all the key causes and forms of corneal impairment and blindness in the world. It is a major resource for capacity building and development of cornea care facilities across the world. It operates one of the largest cornea services in the world and makes a sizeable contribution to the quality of care and access and is a leader in high quality training programmes and research.