Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites
Heather Machin,1,2 Brian Philippy,3 Graeme A Pollock1,2 1Lions Eye Donation Service, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 2Department of Surgery, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 3Distribution...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Dove Medical Press
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Clinical Ophthalmology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.dovepress.com/do-corneal-tissue-providers-inform-their-community-that-they-export-co-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OPTH |
| _version_ | 1818422696147419136 |
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| author | Machin H Philippy B Pollock GA |
| author_facet | Machin H Philippy B Pollock GA |
| author_sort | Machin H |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Heather Machin,1,2 Brian Philippy,3 Graeme A Pollock1,2 1Lions Eye Donation Service, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 2Department of Surgery, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 3Distribution Department, Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of East Virginia, Norfolk, VA, USACorrespondence: Heather Machin Email heather.machin@unimelb.edu.auAim: The exportation of corneas from one nation to another, for transplantation services, is responsible for 23% of all global transplants. Global allocation is possible because of the end-of-life donations from citizens and residents of export nations. To date, there is no information indicating if export nation donors are aware that their corneas may be exported, nor if organizations that export provide information regarding their export engagement to their community. To ascertain if and how exporters inform their community, we audited known export organization public websites.Materials and Methods: We designed and conducted a double-blind audit of known exporting eye banks, eye tissue sharing and distributor organization websites.Results: We audited 79 websites, from 9 nations. Of the 79, 46 (58.2%) did not mention corneal tissue exportation, 17 (21.5%) implied exportation, and 16 (10.2%) explicitly mentioned it. Of the 16 that mentioned they exported, 75% (12/16) provided information regarding their export license, and 12.5% (2/16) indicated partnership with a third party. We could not locate information explaining how organizations decided on how and to whom they export.Discussion: Organizations that export corneal tissue across national borders do not share sufficient information regarding their export activities on their website. The general public and donors within export nations may not be aware that this practice occurs or could occur with their donation. Export organizations and the eye tissue sector must evaluate their communication strategies and collaborate, preferably nationally, to develop publicly appropriate information regarding corneal tissue exportation.Keywords: corneal tissue, distributors and brokers, export, eye banks, transparency, website |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T13:30:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c371a7a114f648639821b0aeb463cb34 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1177-5483 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T13:30:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Dove Medical Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clinical Ophthalmology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c371a7a114f648639821b0aeb463cb342022-12-21T22:59:44ZengDove Medical PressClinical Ophthalmology1177-54832021-10-01Volume 154029403469479Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector WebsitesMachin HPhilippy BPollock GAHeather Machin,1,2 Brian Philippy,3 Graeme A Pollock1,2 1Lions Eye Donation Service, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 2Department of Surgery, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 3Distribution Department, Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of East Virginia, Norfolk, VA, USACorrespondence: Heather Machin Email heather.machin@unimelb.edu.auAim: The exportation of corneas from one nation to another, for transplantation services, is responsible for 23% of all global transplants. Global allocation is possible because of the end-of-life donations from citizens and residents of export nations. To date, there is no information indicating if export nation donors are aware that their corneas may be exported, nor if organizations that export provide information regarding their export engagement to their community. To ascertain if and how exporters inform their community, we audited known export organization public websites.Materials and Methods: We designed and conducted a double-blind audit of known exporting eye banks, eye tissue sharing and distributor organization websites.Results: We audited 79 websites, from 9 nations. Of the 79, 46 (58.2%) did not mention corneal tissue exportation, 17 (21.5%) implied exportation, and 16 (10.2%) explicitly mentioned it. Of the 16 that mentioned they exported, 75% (12/16) provided information regarding their export license, and 12.5% (2/16) indicated partnership with a third party. We could not locate information explaining how organizations decided on how and to whom they export.Discussion: Organizations that export corneal tissue across national borders do not share sufficient information regarding their export activities on their website. The general public and donors within export nations may not be aware that this practice occurs or could occur with their donation. Export organizations and the eye tissue sector must evaluate their communication strategies and collaborate, preferably nationally, to develop publicly appropriate information regarding corneal tissue exportation.Keywords: corneal tissue, distributors and brokers, export, eye banks, transparency, websitehttps://www.dovepress.com/do-corneal-tissue-providers-inform-their-community-that-they-export-co-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OPTHcorneal tissuedistributors and brokersexporteye bankstransparencywebsite. |
| spellingShingle | Machin H Philippy B Pollock GA Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites Clinical Ophthalmology corneal tissue distributors and brokers export eye banks transparency website. |
| title | Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites |
| title_full | Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites |
| title_fullStr | Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites |
| title_short | Do Corneal Tissue Providers Inform Their Community That They Export Corneas? An Audit of Publicly Available Sector Websites |
| title_sort | do corneal tissue providers inform their community that they export corneas an audit of publicly available sector websites |
| topic | corneal tissue distributors and brokers export eye banks transparency website. |
| url | https://www.dovepress.com/do-corneal-tissue-providers-inform-their-community-that-they-export-co-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OPTH |
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