Muscat: A specialized medical team from Al Nahdha Hospital’s Ophthalmology Department on Tuesday performed the first cornea transplant surgery marking the restart of cornea transplant operations in Oman.
Dr Mohammed Majid al Salmi, Head of the Ophthalmology Department at Al Nahdha Hospital, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the surgery was conducted on a citizen who lost vision due to a bacterial infection of the cornea that resulted in opacity of the cornea.
Al Salmi pointed out that corneas are currently being imported from several international eye banks as part of a programme of cooperation with 5 international eye banks. “It is expected that 100 cornea transplants will be performed on an annual basis in Oman, and the number is scheduled to increase,” he added.
Al Salmi stressed that the National Organ Transplant Programme seeks to localize the cornea transplant service in the Sultanate of Oman through the establishment of an eye bank that will collect and preserve corneas from donors within the country over the next five years.
“The aim is to achieve self-sufficiency and provide this service in all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, not only in Muscat Governorate,” Al Salmi explained.
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