For nearly a decade, Eversight has worked alongside dedicated leaders in Pakistan to address one of the country’s most urgent public health challenges: corneal blindness. In December 2025, that long-term commitment reached a milestone when Eversight Vice President of Global Development Collin Ross and Eversight Medical Director Shahzad Mian, MD, traveled to Lahore and Rawalpindi to help advance the growing momentum of local eye banking and cornea donation.
For Dr. Mian, who was born in Lahore, the trip carried both professional and personal meaning—and marked his first opportunity to see Eversight’s work in Pakistan firsthand.
“It was really incredible to see the work put into establishing these facilities and how much it can help improve care for patients by providing access to needed corneal transplantation for people who are blind from corneal diseases,” Dr. Mian said.
The visit began in Lahore, where Eversight joined leaders at King Edward Medical University (KEMU) and Mayo Hospital to inaugurate a new eye bank facility—one that was designed with Eversight’s technical guidance and built in record time through strong institutional and government support.
This eye bank is central to a broader effort to establish a comprehensive local cornea donation program at KEMU. Its leadership includes Professor Dr. Mohammed Moin, Chair of Ophthalmology; Professor Dr. Asad Aslam Khan; and Professor Dr. Sidrah Latif, the eye bank’s medical director.
Support from the Government of Punjab has been instrumental. Punjab is Pakistan’s most populous province, and leaders including Mr. Khawaja Salman Rafique, Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education, and Professor Dr. Muhammad Aamer Zaman Khan, Director General of the Punjab Human Organ Transplantation Authority, have helped catalyze meaningful progress.
“It is next to impossible to really organize and facilitate the running of an eye bank without support of the local government,” Dr. Mian said. “Having laws and rules in place to ensure a safe, high-quality system cannot be done without government support.”
The inauguration drew national attention, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony, prayers for the program’s success and extensive media coverage. For Collin, it was a moment that reflected years of collaboration coming to life.
The KEMU eye bank also carries deep personal significance. It is named in honor of Dr. Maqbool Ahmed, an ophthalmologist based in Illinois and a longtime benefactor of KEMU—and Dr. Mian’s father-in-law. One of the university’s major campus buildings also bears his name, reflecting decades of generosity and commitment.
Following the inauguration, Eversight co-hosted Pakistan’s first comprehensive eye banking symposium. The event brought together surgeons, trainees, eye banking professionals, university leaders and government officials from across the province.
“It was heartwarming to see how much engagement there was; how excited people are to help support addressing corneal blindness by advancing corneal transplantation in Pakistan,” Dr. Mian said.
In addition to Collin and Dr. Mian, local experts shared their experiences, including Professor Dr. Muhammad Sultan of Lyallpur Eye Trust and Mr. Anjum Ehsan of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, an Eversight partner in Rawalpindi. The audience’s engagement underscored a shared drive for education, collaboration and best practices.
From Lahore, Collin and Dr. Mian traveled to Rawalpindi to spend time at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital—one of Eversight’s closest global partners and a key driver of eye banking progress in Pakistan.
Dr. Mian met with Al-Shifa leadership to discuss eye bank development, research and medical education. He also presented on corneal topics to students and faculty, reinforcing Eversight’s commitment to growing local expertise.
“The biggest theme that kept coming up was education,” Dr. Mian said. “Not only for physicians, but for eye bank staff and most importantly the communities being served. Understanding why eye banking matters is essential for everyone involved.”
Al-Shifa is currently launching a pilot local cornea donation program in collaboration with a nonprofit general hospital, with plans to expand donation programs across all Al-Shifa locations nationwide.
“Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital provides care to thousands of patients daily,” Dr. Mian said. “For them to fulfill their mission of providing care to all types of patients, including those with corneal blindness, they have to have an eye bank, and I think having launched this and the ability to recover and distribute tissue will support their mission.”
Corneal blindness is the second-leading cause of avoidable blindness in Pakistan. More than 200,000 people are waiting for a cornea transplant, and locally donated tissue remains scarce. Most tissue must be imported, a model that is unsustainable for the long term.
Eversight has helped bridge this gap by providing corneal tissue at greatly reduced or no cost while simultaneously training surgeons, eye banking professionals and institutions to build local capacity.
This critical progress has been made possible in large part through philanthropic partnership. The continued work to expand local cornea donation and transplantation in Pakistan is funded by the Alcon Foundation, which began in 2023 and now totals $285,000, including a further grant announced in 2026. This support has accelerated local training, staffing and infrastructure development.
Thanks to the Alcon Foundation’s continued support, in 2024 Eversight helped hire an eye donation program coordinator in Islamabad, develop a comprehensive eye banking curriculum and provide more than 1,000 corneal tissues to Pakistan at reduced or no cost to advance surgeon training and serve patients in greatest need.
“This kind of investment doesn’t just fund programs; it builds systems,” Collin said. “It allows us to move from meeting urgent needs today to creating sustainable solutions for tomorrow.”
When asked what he hopes the impact in Pakistan will be in the future, Dr. Mian didn’t hesitate.
“I hope this will revitalize the process so tissue recovery and distribution occur at the local level in multiple cities in Pakistan,” he said. “That they can develop a network similar to what we have in the United States, coordinating best practices in providing corneal tissue to patients throughout the country.”
The momentum is already there, fueled by committed partners, engaged leaders, philanthropic support and a shared belief that preventable blindness should never be inevitable.
“I hope it comes across that this is a place of great need, but also great opportunity,” Dr. Mian said. “Eversight is a critical partner, providing the knowledge and skillset to establish eye banking, and we’re committed to walking alongside our partners.”
Through collaboration, education and financial support, Eversight’s work in Pakistan is helping make vision a reality for thousands of people.
You, too, can help support this work. Learn more about Eversight’s eye bank development program and give today to fund sight-saving training and technology to further educate clinicians around the world.