Today in Armenia we have thousands of patients with corneal blindness in both eyes. Of those, we currently have 53 patients on a transplant list waiting for surgery.
With a donation of $800 you can save an Armenian from a lifetime of blindness. Your donation will sponsor the full cost of a cornea transplant, far less than it would cost in the United States. However, it is more than most Armenians can afford and they go blind without a transplant.
The cornea is the front, clear part of the eye. When an infection or trauma cause damage to the cornea it becomes cloudy and the patient goes blind in that eye. The only treatment to restore sight is a corneal transplant. In Armenia, we are very fortunate to have the SightLife Eye Bank in the U.S. donate the tissue — the cornea — to the patients, which is a $5,000 savings. The only thing the EyeCare Project must do is arrange for shipment of the cornea to Armenia.
There are also fees from the hospital and the government for performing the surgery, the surgeon’s fee, which is donated by Dr. Anna Hovakimyan, and medications which must be purchased — though the EyeCare Project obtains as many medications as it can at no cost.
With all of these donations and support your $800 sponsorship of a cornea transplant goes a long way. Compare the cost of a corneal transplant in the U.S. versus the cost in Armenia.
Cornea Tissue: U.S.: $5,000 Armenia: $100 — Donated cornea from SightLife
Anesthesia Fees: U.S.: $2,000 Armenia: $200
Hospital Fee: U.S.: $4,000 Armenia: $400
Medications: U.S.: $1,100 Armenia: $100
Surgical Fee: U.S.: $2,000 Armenia: $0 — Donated
Total: U.S.: $14,100 Armenia: $800
Sight Restored: Priceless
We hope you consider sponsoring a corneal transplant for a patient in Armenia. You can underwrite the entire procedure yourself or get together with family and friends to give the priceless gift of sight to an Armenian in need.
