Miracles In Sight Partner, Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital in India, Wins Prestigious British Medical Journal South Asia Healthcare Award

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Dec. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Miracles In Sight (MIS), one of the largest eye banks in the world headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC, has announced that its global partner, Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) in New Delhi, India, has received the prestigious and highly contested British Medical Journal (BMJ) Award South Asia 2016 in the category of "Quality Improvement Team of the Year" for their work on improving eye bank tissue utilization in India. While the average utilization rate of corneal eye tissue in India is between 40 - 45 percent, the SCEH Eye Bank has maintained a utilization rate of 67 percent since 2012 by improving the quality of transplantable tissues through enhanced quality assurance initiatives.

"We take great pride in accepting this award on behalf of the Indian Eye Banking fraternity, which gives eye banking its deserved place in the healthcare forum in India," says Dr. Manisha Acharya, Medical Director and Eye Bank Consultant at SCEH. "The support SCEH has received from MIS for training our surgical technicians and supporting our infrastructure has been instrumental in our success. MIS has also helped us improve our efficiencies and quality.

"We are particularly gratified to receive this award in our 10^th anniversary year. It further strengthens our commitment to providing quality eye care services to our patients and helping eradicate corneal blindness in India."

In India, 1.3 million people suffer from corneal blindness. Nearly 75 percent of these cases are curable through cornea transplants, with children being among those most in need of lifesaving transplants.

"As part of our philanthropy, MIS partners with other eye banks and physicians around the world in a global effort to end corneal blindness," says Dean Vavra, MIS president and CEO. "One of our longest and best relationships is with Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital. The SCEH Eye Bank is one of the best and fastest growing eye banks in North India, and it is the only Eye & ENT Institute of North India with NABH Accreditation.

"We are passionate about providing the support and training SCEH needs to advance its vision to be a sustainable community eye bank utilizing innovation and best practices."

Since its inception, SCEH has increased its annual eye bank tissue donations from 11 in 2005 to 1,244 in 2016 and has performed nearly 5,000 transplants. Since introducing its quality assurance program in 2011, SCEH has increased its annual collection of tissue by 360 percent, utilization by 130 percent and corneal transplants by 420 percent. SCEH employs a dedicated team that works with multi-specialty hospitals and other organizations in India around the clock to collect corneal tissue as it becomes available.

The BMJ Awards South Asia, called the Oscars of medicine, recognize individuals and teams who have worked tirelessly to champion the cause of healthcare in South Asia. More than 1,500 nominations were received in 2016; only 10 winners received awards.

About Miracles In Sight 
Miracles In Sight (formerly the North Carolina Eye Bank), based in Winston-Salem, NC, USA is one of the largest eye banks in the world. The mission of Miracles In Sight is to recover, process and distribute ocular tissue for the restoration of sight through corneal transplantation and related medical therapy and research. A significant part of this mission is stewardship focused on training and educating the medical community and supporting partners and organizations around the world.

SOURCE Miracles In Sight