ABOUT
EEBA Information
The European Eye Bank Association (EEBA) is a technical-scientific organization comprising individual and non-profit institutional members from eye banks across Europe and beyond. Founded with the simple objective of sharing information regarding eye-banking, the Association is today the leading pan-national association in Europe dedicated to the advancement of eye-banking and an authoritative reference point for eye banks wishing to work according to quality standards.
Our annual meetings, and the collection and exchange of detailed information from European Eye Banks now amount to a significant track record. The Association has a level of maturity which gives it a voice with which to speak with some confidence on eye banking in Europe and remains a scientific organization committed to defining minimum standards and to encouraging banks to produce Standard Operating Procedures in order to maintain the highest possible standards for quality and safety.
Background
The first meeting of the European Eye Bank Association (EEBA) took place in Århus, Denmark in 1989. The handful of people present, invited by Professor Niels Ehlers could not have known how the organisation would develop, only that there was much to learn and share about eye banking. This open-minded approach is surely one of the reasons why the EEBA can claim today to be a successful organisation. The regular annual meetings and collection and exchange of information that has occurred now amounts to a significant track record.
The Association is committed to defining minimum standards and encouraging banks to produce Standard Operating Procedures as required by the relevant authorities in each country. The Association will remain sensitive to comments on the design and content of its Annual Statistical Report and will attempt to make data collection processes as easy to complete as possible. As always you are encouraged to complete activity forms as accurately and promptly as soon as possible.
Besides the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, I would like to address together with all of you the following key topics during the three years of my Presidency:
1. Further development and improvement of the EEBA Directory
Like the two previous Presidents, I would like to continue the work on the EEBA Directory. In my eyes, EEBA has collected an amazing amount of data regarding the activities of European eye banks over the last 30 years. The transformation to a web based Directory tool should be planned and finalised, so that the required core data can be easily submitted by the individual eye banks and, correspondingly, made accessible to all Members.
In addition, in order to make our amalgamated data available to the wider public, we should draft a scientific publication. Subsequently we might continue with the publication in a scientific journal as a kind of annual report on the activities of the European eye banks.
2. Overcome the problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen how fast our daily work can be compromised and how fast a significant shortage of corneal grafts can develop. For the next years, we should improve the national and international exchange of information on how to deal with legal restrictions, with new donor testing requirements and problems in donor recruitment to avoid problems like the ones experienced during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
3. Implementation of an EEBA certificate
As national and international regulations become increasingly significant for eye banks in Europe, an international “recognition” certification might be a helpful tool for better cooperation between eye banks and enhanced acceptance by official authorities. The aim of this project would be to develop a certification programme within the EEBA that might also include European competent and regulatory authorities.
4. Survey about the needs and demands of EEBA members
During the past two years, the participation of EEBA members in EEBA specific activities and projects has decreased, in all probability due to cancellation of the face-to-face Annual EEBA Meetings. In this regard, I feel that it is important for the EEBA Committee to have a clear understanding of what EEBA Members expect and want from their Association. As a result, a survey on the needs and demands of EEBA Members shall be performed in 2022/2023.
5. Support of international scientific projects
Besides the significant problems caused by the pandemic, we witnessed an improvement in the scientific cooperation between Members that resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. As this kind of cooperation can be very fruitful and very productive, EEBA will look to support further specific scientific projects organisationally and maybe also financially.
The above-mentioned topics and goals cannot be realised by the EEBA Committee or myself without assistance. Therefore, I ask for the support and input from all EEBA Members to progress our association a few steps further forward in the coming years.
I thank you once more for giving me your trust and I look forward to serving EEBA, in unison with the Committee and all of you, during the three years of my Presidency.
Yours sincerely
Prof. Dr. Philip Maier
EEBA President