Lions Eye Bank is the name of the various eye bank

Eye bank

Eye banks retrieve and store eyes for cornea transplants and research. US eye banks provide tissue for about 46,000 cornea transplants a year to treat conditions such as keratoconus and cornea scarring. The cornea is not the only part of the eye that can currently undergo transplantation. The...

s operated by the Lions Save Sight Foundation (LSSF), a not for profit foundation within the Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...

  service

Service club

A service club or service organization is a voluntary non-profit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined first by its service mission...

 organisation. The Banks store and prepare donated cornea

Cornea

The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...

s for transplantation. Corneas may be stored for up to seven days before being given to the ophthalmic surgeon

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...

 for transplantation.

There are over 60 Lions Eye Banks around the world, supported as ongoing projects by Lions service clubs.

Australia

Western Australia
The Western Australian Lions Eye Bank was established in 1986 and is housed at the Lions Eye Institute

Lions Eye Institute

The Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Western Australia, is the largest eye research institute in the southern hemisphere. It is a limited liability company, with not-for-profit and tax-exempt gift recipient status, overseen by a Board of Directors...

 in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

It is the only facility of its kind in Western Australia, and coordinates the collection, processing and distribution of eye tissue for transplantation. The Bank also maintains a waitlist of patients who require corneal graft operations.

About 100 corneas are provided by the Bank for transplant each year. Corneal transplants have a high rate of success, but Western Australia has a shortage of donated human eye tissue.

New South Wales
The Lions NSW Eye Bank provides over 350 grafts to the people of NSW each year.