LAHORE, Feb 16: The Punjab Institute of Preventive Ophthalmology, Mayo Hospital, is ready to transplant corneas to preferably young patients free of cost from this week.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, PIPO Project Director Prof Dr Asad Aslam Khan said the institute had managed to obtain three corneas from Sri Lanka with the help of philanthropists.

He said 24 blind patients were admitted to the institute, and the first instalment of three corneas would reach here on Friday (tomorrow). Regarding transplantation criteria, Prof Khan said the institute would prefer young patients for cornea transplant, so that they could become useful citizens.

He said total cost of importing a cornea from Sri Lanka, including the cost of related medicines, was Rs20,000 per patient. He said the cost was being met by philanthropists, and patients would be treated free of cost.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed, who was informed about the project by Mr Khan, said a project to provide state-of-the-art ophthalmological facilities to people living in the far-flung areas had been launched in collaboration with international donors.

Dr Javed said the government was also strengthening the role of international donor agencies with regard to the health sector as well as launching an effective monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that development funds were being used judiciously.

The minister lauded the efforts of PIPO, and hoped that better and inexpensive medical facilities would be provided to the deserving patients at PIPO to eliminate blindness from the country by 2020.