New Delhi: National Eye Bank at AIIMS here has added three hospitals to its cornea-retrieval network to strengthen the availability of donor tissue for transplantation.
In 2025, it collected 2,167 corneas and performed transplants on 1,775 corneal-blind patients. The centre has performed more than 1,300 corneal transplants annually for four consecutive years. Of the 2,167 corneas collected in 2025, 1,775 (81.9%) were retrieved through the HCRP. Over the past 61 years, the eye bank has collected more than 38,000 corneas and visually rehabilitated over 28,000 people through corneal transplantation. It has also trained more than 500 ophthalmologists in advanced corneal transplantation techniques. Over the past year, 100 people pledged their eyes at eye bank. AIIMS has also entered a five-year partnership with Vision-Aid to establish 10 Integrated Vision Centres across Delhi-NCR and a dedicated Cerebral Visual Impairment Resource Centre for children.
The eye bank has signed MoUs with Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr RML Hospital, Indira Gandhi Hospital in Dwarka and Northern Railway Central Hospital for corneal tissue procurement, research and training under the AIIMS-Delhi Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme (HCRP) this year. The development comes as the eye bank continues to handle a high volume of corneal transplants. The hospital-based programme enables eye-bank counsellors and technicians to identify potential donors, counsel bereaved families and retrieve corneas at hospitals. The centre highlighted its work at Tuesday’s 41st National Eye Donation Fortnight programme at AIIMS, including a fully online death-notification system to enable faster contact with bereaved families and an online eye-donation pledge system. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in Delhi
National Eye Bank, which received a National Award last year for its contribution to eye banking, also honoured donor families, hospitals, NGOs and partner eye banks at the event.