A total of 12 corneal transplant surgeries were conducted at the Georgetown Public Hospital over a one-week period.
The surgeries were supported by the Subraj Foundation Transplantation Team as they paid tribute to the late founder.
Dr Shailendra Sugrim receiving the 12 human corneal tissues from Tony Subraj, son of the founder of the Subraj Transplant Foundation
Following a number of visits to Guyana, the US-based team were able to contribute to one of the first mass corneal transplants in Guyana. Twelve Guyanese benefited from this philanthropic venture as the medical team were able to source and donate the corneas to be used in the transplants.
The group was unable to arrange a corneal transplant surgeon during this visit and as such, nine of the 12 transplants were done by Dr Shailendra Sugrim, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology.
Dr Sugrim worked along with his local team of nurses in the ophthalmology theatre as the first Guyanese ophthalmic surgeon to have completed a corneal transplant in Guyana.
Corneal transplant surgeries cannot be performed without donor corneas. There are proposals to establish an eye bank in Guyana to facilitate the sourcing and perseveration of these specimens locally.
Dr Stephen Waller, a surgeon who has worked in many countries, is the coordinating surgeon, and has been working dedicatedly over the past few months in the USA to procure corneas to bring to Guyana. He is a strong advocate for the establishment of the eye bank for which the Georgetown Public Hospital has confirmed that one of the local eye surgeons, Dr Celeste Hinds will be proceeding on a three-month Cornea Fellowship training. On her return, the Department of Ophthalmology plans to proceed with the laying of the groundwork for establishing the eye bank in Guyana.
