A Cornea Specialist at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Gladys Fourdjour, has revealed that a considerable portion of corneas utilized for eye transplant procedures in Ghana are procured from the United States.
However, the geographical distance between these overseas sources and Ghana has raised concerns about the viability and quality of these crucial tissues for transplantation.
During an interview on GhanaWeb’s Lowdown, Dr. Fourdjour shed light on the significant challenges that the medical community faces when obtaining corneas for transplant operations within the country.
“In the first half of this year, we performed 18 transplants. For the next month, we’ve received an email indicating that another individual will hand-carry a cornea for us,” she stated.
She further explained that medical professionals also reach out to eye banks in the United States to request corneas for transplant procedures in Ghana.
As a result, a substantial majority of the corneas used in these operations originate from the US. Recently, a cornea was acquired from Nepal, demonstrating the global scope of the procurement process.
However, Dr. Fourdjour pointed out that the considerable distance between the tissue sources and Ghana might impact the quality of the corneas.
Dr. Fourdjour emphasized that the optimal situation would involve having cornea tissues readily accessible within a short time frame for transplantation, as the current reliance on overseas sources introduces challenges related to the preservation and transportation of these delicate tissues.
This reliance on international sources for corneas has been a long-standing practice, with a notable proportion of transplant procedures occurring over the past five years.
“While this practice has been ongoing for some years, the majority of the transplants we’ve performed have taken place in the last five years,” Dr. Fourdjour added, underlining the growing dependence on overseas cornea sources and the need for improved accessibility to these tissues within the country.