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Resource February 4, 2016

Meet the Journalist: Ross Velton on "Cornea Donation in Sri Lanka"

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Blind woman sitting outside a shop in Colombo. Image by Ross Velton. Sri Lanka, 2015.
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The Buddhist practice of giving gifts to help those less fortunate has made Sri Lanka one of the...

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Media file: corneas_at_national_eye_bank_of_sri_lanka.jpg
Corneas stored in a refrigerator at Sri Lanka's National Eye Bank in Colombo. Corneas must be used on a patient within about four weeks of being taken from a donor. Image by Ross Velton. Sri Lanka, 2015.

Sri Lanka: a place famous for its fine tea… and now, its eyes.

While many countries struggle to find enough corneas (the transparent front part of the eye) to meet a growing demand, Sri Lanka's eye banks are so well stocked that large numbers of corneas are now being sent abroad.

Ross Velton visits this mainly Buddhist country, where he finds there's good karma in donating body parts.

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