P25-A123†Indo - German GIZ collaboration - impact and way forward in global eye banking.

PURPOSE: Geographical imbalance in cornea supply is a key feature of global eye banking. Most countries of South Asia particularly India suffer from donor cornea shortage which limits the number of keratoplasties, thereby aggravating the already high burden of removable blindness. The purpose of the project is to identify and cross-pollinate best practices from two leading eye banking institutions in India and Germany, and thereby improve service delivery of both systems. The project is supported by the GIZ Hospital Partnerships funding program on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with a co-financing by the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS). It started in 2021 and will last upto 2023. METHODS: A joint expert group from both organisations conducted a series of workshops to identify the areas of intervention and specific practices to be introduced at the Indian partner's region. The overall increase in cornea collections and transplants, documented systemic improvement measures and research output were defined as the key outcomes. RESULTS: Interim results are presented here. Two interventions identified were expansion of catchment area of cornea collection in India, and improved information management system to monitor the progress and efficiency of the collection centres. Under the former intervention, the hub-and-spoke model from the German partner was introduced to the most populous state of India through establishment of two new cornea collection centres (spokes) for Hospital based Cornea collections. In six months these centres have supplied 79 donor corneas leading to 63 transplants at the hub. Under the latter intervention, the specifications of a baseline data capture and operations management system which can be used in low resource settings are being developed. CONCLUSION: The initiative has shown how best practice from one geography can be adapted and successfully implemented in another geography , Furthermore, the public knowledge resources created in the project can be used by other eye banks to advance eye banking in their respective countries.

11†Growing together in diversity - Indo-German cooperation enhancing eye donation in North India.

In India, the most densely populated state is Uttar Pradesh in the Northern region. This state has a huge base of corneal blind population due to cornea infections, ocular trauma, and (chemical) burns.Successful cornea transplantation using human post-mortem donated cornea is a treatment modality. In India lack of availability of donated cornea is a public health challenge. Thus, there is great need to reduce the huge demand and supply gap by increasing the donations for supply of cornea to patients.The Eye Bank at the Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) and the German Society for Tissue Transplantation (DGFG) collaborate in a project to enhance cornea donation and eye bank's infrastructure in Delhi. The project is supported by the Hospital Partnerships funding programme which is a joint initiative of Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) and carried out by the German Society for International Collaboration (GIZ GmbH).The project aims to increase the number of cornea donations by the SCEH eye bank through establishing two new eye collection centers where donation is coordinated and that are integrated into the existing and well-established eye bank and donation infrastructure of SCEH. Further, data management of the eye bank will be improved by developing a concept for an electronic database system that allows faster monitoring and evaluation of the processes. All activities are carried out according to a defined project plan. The basis of the project is an open-minded analysis and understanding of processes of both partners in relation to the respective legislations plus the environment and conditions in both countries.Aside from intercultural exchange and personal contacts both partners benefit from mutual on-site visits and exchanging best practices in eye donation and banking as well as sharing expertise in research topics.This project is a great example on how strong and sustainable relationships can be build across the globe improving the infrastructure for cornea donations to help corneal blind patients.