Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Importation of the cornea and the surgeries for its transplantation to patients are already underway in Azerbaijan.

The chairman of the Healthcare Committee of the Parliament, Ahliman Amiraslanov, said this at a meeting of the committee on May 3.

Amiraslanov stressed that permission for clinics to perform this surgery is issued by the relevant executive authority and a doctor who will conduct such an operation is determined.

“Maybe some clinics have not been given permission to conduct such a surgery, but they are already performed in Azerbaijan,” he added.

MP Musa Guliyev said that there are no obstacles for the importation of the cornea into Azerbaijan, as in connection with this, the necessary legislative base has been created.

Earlier, Farah Abdulalieva, a leading researcher of the Zarifa Aliyeva National Ophthalmology Center, noted that in the coming weeks, corneal transplantation will begin in Azerbaijan.

More than 3,000 patients, waiting for corneal transplantation, have been registered at the National Ophthalmology Center, she said, adding that 20 percent of them are children.

“The cornea is planned to be brought from Iran, the U.S. and Russia. The surgeries will be conducted at the National Ophthalmology Center,” Abdulaliyeva added.

Corneal transplantation is a wide-spread surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue.

So far, Azerbaijani citizens had to go to Turkey, Iran or Russia for corneal transplant surgery that cost them a lot of money and energy. A patient undergoing surgery abroad should undergo medical examination after some time -- from six to 12 months.

Corneal eye disease is the fourth most common cause of blindness, after cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, and affects more than 10 million people worldwide. As for 2014, over 65,000 corneal transplants are being performed worldwide annually.

The cornea is the clear outer lens on the front of the eye. A corneal transplant is surgery to replace the cornea with tissue from a donor. It is the most common solid tissue transplant in humans.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz