The eye bank, in conjunction with the National Optical Hospital, held a ceremony in Hanoi on November 28 to honour 37 cornea donators in 2014 and mark the bank’s 5th founding anniversary.
The event is organised annually from 2007 when the first Vietnamese in Kim Son district of northern Ninh Binh province voluntarily gave corneas after passing away.
Thirty-three organisations and individuals having great contributions to the eye bank and the donation campaigns were also praised at the celebration.
Hoang Van Tien, 63, in Kim Son district, told a story about how his father and older sister came to a decision to donate their corneas.
He expressed hope that more people will respond to the campaign in order to bring light to vision-impaired people.
The law on donation, removal and transplantation of human tissues and organs and donation and recovery of cadavers was approved by the National Assembly in 2006, paving the way for the establishment of the eye bank.
Officially launched in May 2009, the bank has to date received 461 corneas presented by 235 people.
More than 30,000 vision-impaired people now need cornea transplants in Vietnam.-VNA
