Advanced eye surgery in Nepal – a sustainable partnership between Copenhagen Eye Institute and Tilganga Eye Hospital
Tilganga Eye Hospital in Kathmandu is the most advanced eye care institution in Nepal. Thanks to the efforts of Director Dr. Reeta Gurung and her team, the hospital has established the infrastructure for a fully competent corneal transplant system with organ management, an eye bank and corneal surgeons offering universal eye care to the highest standards.
The hospital is the preferred eye care center for the entire Kathmandu Valley, which covers a population of over 2.5 million people and serves many of the remote village areas in Northern Nepal and the Himalayas.
Since 2018, the Copenhagen Eye Foundation has been working with Tilganga Eye Hospital to implement the latest techniques in corneal transplantation, known as DMEK. This technique, performed in Denmark since 2016, replaces only the diseased part of the cornea, resulting in better visual outcomes and fewer post-operative complications.
As the infrastructure for corneal transplants was already in place, the project focused on training. Surgeons from the Copenhagen Eye Foundation trained local experienced surgeons in the surgical technique, indication positions and follow-up of the operated patients.
The project is now fully sustainable and since 2018, eye surgeons at Tilganga Eye Hospital have performed over 1000 operations with this technique on local patients. The institution is at the forefront of eye care in Nepal, bringing advanced eye surgery to vulnerable populations in the Kathmandu Valley and remote villages in the north. Corneal transplants are performed daily and thousands of patients are diagnosed and operated on by highly qualified surgeons to the highest international standards.