About Us
Tissue Bank &
Our Vision
The Athens Eye Bank of the 1rst Department of Ophthalmology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is located at ‘Georgios Gennimatas’ Hospital. It operates as a public entity specializing in providing corneal grafts to patients in need of corneal transplantation.
Our primary goal is the retrieval, processing, and distribution of corneal tissue. This effort relies significantly on the generosity of individuals and their families who choose to donate their eyes. Additionally, Athens Eye Bank is committed to promoting ophthalmic research. Recognizing the importance of extensive research to achieve optimal surgical outcomes, our department strives to utilize all necessary equipment to enhance our understanding of corneal transplantation.
Furthermore, we aim to create a comprehensive database containing information about patients and grafts, clarifying their unique characteristics and their impact on corneal transplantation.
Thank you
The individuals and families who have chosen to share the precious gift of life through organ donation.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, more than 280 million people worldwide suffer from low vision or blindness in both eyes.
Corneal diseases are the fourth leading cause of blindness globally. In most of these diseases, vision loss is reversible and can be restored to a large extent through corneal transplantation.
In recent decades, transplantation has become an advanced therapeutic technique successfully applied in our country to address severe corneal diseases such as keratoconus, various dystrophies, infectious diseases, and eye injuries. Given that our country ranks last in organ donors in Europe and among the last ten countries in the Western world, significant waiting lists are created for corneal transplantation. The National Health System mainly covers the treatment of these patients through imports of grafts from abroad.
In recent years, efforts have been made to raise awareness among the population, in collaboration with the National Transplant Organization and other relevant bodies, aiming to increase the number of corneal graft donors. This effort has resulted in an increase in available corneal grafts in Greece, creating the need to establish a modern Eye Bank for the evaluation and processing of grafts. Since 2021, amidst the pandemic, the initiative to establish the first Greek eye bank, named Athens Eye Bank in Athens at the 1st Department of Ophthalmology, University the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, based at the ‘Georgios Gennimatas’ General Hospital, was launched. Today, this clinic is the largest corneal transplant unit in Greece and ranks among the largest units globally, performing more than 150 corneal transplants per year.
Therefore, the operation of the Eye Bank is essential for meeting the needs of evaluating and processing eye grafts before transplantation to patients—a process that was not performed in Greece until now, resulting in reduced functionality of grafts in recipients. Alongside the operation of the Eye Bank, a database is created for recording and analyzing the specific characteristics of each graft from Greek donors, for further studies related to the outcomes of transplants, aiming to advance ophthalmic research, particularly corneal transplants in Greece.
According to Ministerial Decision number Γ2γ/ΓΠ.53790, published in Government Gazette/6576, on November 20, 2023, the licensing of the first eye bank in Greece was announced, opening new horizons for ophthalmology and the health of our citizens.