Eye Bank of Ethiopia Wins 2020 Public-Private Partnership Impact Award - ENA English
Eye Bank of Ethiopia Wins 2020 Public-Private Partnership Impact Award
Addis Ababa September 29/2020 (ENA) Eye Bank of Ethiopia won the 2020 public-private partnership (P3) Impact Award at the Concordia Summit.
The announcement was made by the Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State, the University Of Virginia Darden School of Business Institute for Business in Society and Concordia.
The annual P3 Impact Award recognizes exemplary cross-sector collaborations that feature public, private and non-profit organizations addressing societal challenges.
Eye Bank of Ethiopia’s Elimination of Corneal Blindness Partnership (EBE) is the seventh public-private partnership to win the annual award.
EBE is a public-private partnership between the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, SightLife, and the Himalayan Cataract Project that intends to serve as a model for development throughout Africa via the establishment of the first eye bank in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Eye Bank of Ethiopia utilizes global best practices, ensure a steady supply of tissue to the country, and drive cornea health system policy enablers.
Since the initiation of the partnership, the EBE has met 100 percent of the demand for corneal tissue in Ethiopia and has completed 2,400 transplants with 70 percent of transplants being successful after 5 years.
Over 12 million people worldwide suffer needlessly in the dark because of corneal blindness especially in low-and middle-income countries such as Ethiopia where approximately 300,000 people are affected by corneal blindness.
Eliminating corneal blindness requires patient access to good-quality, affordable eye care across all stages of life, the integration of corneal health services into primary healthcare systems and access to transplant tissue.
Public-private partnership each year are celebrated for leading the way in providing innovative solutions to pressing issues in areas of economic growth and development, sustainability, and global health.
Other 2020 award finalists recognized for their excellence in partnership include Asili, Eastern Congo Initiative’s Social Enterprise in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Localizing Development: IAF-Mott Public-Private Partnership in Mexico; State Affordable Medicines Program in Ukraine; and the global initiative, WASH UP.