Narayana Nethralaya Eye Bank

Narayana Nethralaya has one of the best eye banking successes in the country. Reputed to have one of the state’s largest and most ‘yielding’ eye banks, it caters to over 50% of the state’s utilization of corneal tissue.

Eyes Pledged

Eyes Donated

About Us

Narayana Nethralaya Eye Foundation

The infrastructure, facilities, and staff expertise at Narayana Nethralaya for cornea retrieval, evaluation and distribution is second to none.  With over 71,538 eyes pledges, and over 15,254 eyes donated, the backlog of corneal blindness in Karnataka has been significantly reduced due to the untiring efforts of Narayana Nethralaya’s Eye Banks. We are grateful to the “Families” who have donated the eyes of their loved ones and spread the joy of sight to countless blind people.

Our History

Narayana Nethralaya’s 1st state-of-the-art eye bank with international standard tissue banking facility was established in 1994 and the 2nd in 2008, with the purpose of publicizing the importance of eye donation and to facilitate the collection, processing and distribution of donor eyes to people suffering from corneal blindness. A part of Narayana Nethralaya Eye Foundation (NNEF), which is a not-for-profit organization, Narayana Nethralaya’s Eye Banks are dedicated to fighting corneal blindness, and increasing eye and cornea donations through public education. We are:

Member of Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI)

Registered under Human Organ Transplantation Act (HOTA), 1994

Our Mission

Sight for All – Elimination of avoidable blindness through eye banking activities, research, training, and public awareness programmes.

Functions of Eye Bank

  • The collection, processing, and distribution of donor’s eyes for transplantation
  • Providing donor eye tissue for medical education, research, and training
  • Providing training to Eye Bank technicians and corneal surgeons
  • Promoting public awareness about eye donation and eye banking

Narayana Nethralaya set up their 1st state-of-the-art eye bank with international standard tissue banking facility, Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank, in 1994 at NN1, Rajajinagar. The legendary Kannada actor Dr Rajkumar believed that sight is precious and that there is no point burying/burning healthy eyes that can be used to help someone else. Other than lending his name to the eye bank, the actor pledged to donate his eyes at the inauguration of the eye bank and also promised to help promote eye donation. The eye bank saw a large number of people pledging their eyes following the example set by Dr Rajkumar. This movement gained momentum with the collection of corneas from Dr. Rajkumar in April 2006 after his sad demise.

Dr Yathish is the Medical Director of Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank.

Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank at NN1 ranked 1st among Eye Banks in Karnataka for eye collection in the year 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

  1. RAJKUMAR EYE BANK STATISTICS (Last 5 years)

Year                

Number of Eyes Pledged

Number of Eyes Collected

2014

1900

1026

2015

2552

1249

2016

3455

1422

2017

4600

1775

2018

6278

1705

Total               

 

 

Number of eyes pledge till date – 52,204

Number of eyes collected till date – 12,320

 

Change text in the tab above to “Download Eye Donor Form” or “Download Eye Donation Pledge Form” or “Download Eye Donor Registration Form”

Encouraged by the success of Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank, Narayana Nethralaya set up their 2nd state-of-the-art eye bank with international standard tissue banking facility at Narayana Health City in 2008. This would not have been possible without the generous donation of Mr. Anand Singh after whom the eye bank is named. The upgraded eye bank facility is called “Shankar Anand Singh Eye Bank”.

The Medical Director of Shankar Anand Singh Eye Bank is Dr. Himanshu. P. Matalia.

SHANKAR ANAND SINGH EYE BANK STATISTICS (Last 5 years)

Year                

Number of Eyes Pledged

Number of Eyes Collected

2014

773

346

2015

2047

432

2016

4785

482

2017

428

376

2018

225

256

Total

Number of eyes pledge till date – 19334

 

Number of eyes collected till date – 2984

THE EYE-BANK’S SPECIAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

National Fortnight on Eye Donation – More than 7 million of our countrymen, women and children are currently waiting for someone to donate their eyes. As part of the Eye Donation Fortnight from August 25th to September 8th, under the National Program for Control of Blindness, Narayana Nethralaya and its two eye banks – Dr Rajkumar Eye Bank in Rajajinagar and Dr Shankar Anand Eye Bank in Electronic City – organise various events to create awareness on the need to donate eyes. Some of them include:

·         Blind walk – As part of the National eye donation fortnight, Narayana Nethralaya conducted a ‘Blind Walk’ to promote eye donation on Sunday, 7th Sep 2014. The walk, which started at Narayana Nethralaya, Rajajinagar, and ended at Orion Mall, Yeshwantpur, was led by 100 visually challenged people. The idea of the blind walk was to give people with sight an opportunity to experience “vision loss” and the everyday challenges faced by the blind. This awareness would hopefully encourage more sighted people to donate their eyes, which can be a life-changer for the corneal blind.

·         Drishti Santhe – was organised on 30th Aug 2015 at Narayana Nethralaya Hospital, Rajajinagar. The theme ‘Of the blind, for the blind’ gave visually impaired children from Blind Associations and schools an opportunity to exhibit their talents and skills in music, dance, public speaking, art and craft, etc.

·         Laksha Lakshya – An initiative of the Eye Bank Association of India under the Title and Caption “Dakshina Bharath Nethredhana Sammelana – Laksha Lakshya”, a first ever Multi Discipline Meet to support Eye Donation, Bone Marrow Donation, Organ Donation, Cadaver Donation and Multi Organ Donation, was held on the 2nd and 3rd of Sep 2017, at Narayana Nethralaya, Rajajinagar. Delegates representing several institutions and organizations attended the event.

·         Awareness programs for MNCs and software companies – Various awareness programs are conducted regularly in collaboration with MNCs and software companies with the objective to educate the general public about the need to donate their eyes after death, so that the gap between demand and supply of corneal tissue can be met.

·         Activities for school and college children – Competitions such as painting, elocution, quiz and fancy dress for school children, and Facebook Video competitions for college students are conducted every year during the eye donation fortnight. The theme for these competitions is based on eye donation and the value of eyesight to dispel misconceptions and encourage eye pledging in this age group.   

Harish Nanjappa Award – in memory of the 23 year old man whose body was severed in half by a speeding truck on the Tumakuru-Bengaluru road on 16 February, 2018. Even as he was being taken to the hospital, a profusely bleeding Harish expressed his desire to donate his eyes and other organs after his death. Though his other organs could not be harvested due to excessive damage, Harish’s eyes were donated to Narayana Nethralaya after his death. Inspired by his selfless act, more than half the number of people living in his village pledged their eyes on the 13th day ceremony of Harish Nanjappa’s death.

The Harish Nanjappa Award is awarded annually by Narayana Nethralaya to Eye Collection Centers in rural and urban areas that have made an outstanding impact to increase awareness about Eye Donation. The annual award in memory of Harish Nanjappa was presented in presence of his mother to Dr Sunil Mallesh, Chairman & Managing Director of Gayathri Hospital, Bangalore, for exemplary contribution to Eye donation and highest number of cornea collected as part of Hospital Cornea Retrieval Program. Shri M B Gurudev from Doddaballapur Eye Collection Centre was also felicitated for continued support.

BECOME A DONOR

People without vision do not get to experience the world that we do and deserve better. Register to be an Eye Donor!

Give the gift of Sight – Give the Gift of life!