Introducing Corneas for All (Cornées Pour Tous)
Vision Share is proud to collaborate with the Cheikh Zaid Foundation on Corneas for All (Cornées Pour Tous), a program designed to improve access to corneal tissue and strengthen surgical expertise at participating university hospitals in Morocco. By bringing together tissue funding, surgical education, and clinical collaboration, the program aims to build sustainable capacity for corneal transplantation and help more patients receive sight-restoring care.
Connecting Tissue Access With Surgical Education
Access to donated corneal tissue is essential to corneal transplantation. Supporting the surgeons and institutions that provide this care is another important part of expanding access. Corneas for All addresses both needs through three goals:
- Improve access to corneal tissue: Support participating Moroccan university hospital centers with access to corneal tissue.
- Support surgical education: Expand opportunities for advanced training in corneal transplantation and related procedures.
- Strengthen local expertise: Build surgical capacity through practical training, clinical collaboration, and knowledge sharing.
Together, these efforts support a lasting foundation for corneal care while contributing to the Cheikh Zaid Foundation’s vision of creating a Center of Excellence in Morocco.
How the Collaboration Will Work
The Cheikh Zaid Foundation will provide funding for corneal tissue and manage the program’s logistics, administrative requirements, and transportation. Vision Share will supply the corneal tissue needed for training. Together, the Foundation and Vision Share will support surgeon education in techniques including:
- Penetrating keratoplasty (PKP)
- Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK)
- Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK) and
- Corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segments (CAIRS) with KeraNatural®
The educational component is designed to help participating surgeons develop specialized skills and share knowledge with colleagues across institutions.
Training Across Participating University Hospitals
The program’s implementation plan includes the launch of a university diploma in ophthalmic transplantation for physicians at university hospital centers. Monthly corneal transplantation training activities are also planned across participating hospitals, with a schedule that includes Fez, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Oujda, Tangier, and Agadir. Activities will follow a schedule approved by the Corneas for All project management committee. Alongside these educational activities, the program calls for regularly organized corneal transplantation programs at participating university hospital centers.
Building Sustainable Access to Sight-Restoring Care
“Our hope is that this collaboration will help more patients receive care in Morocco and give surgeons more opportunities to learn from one another. We’re grateful to the Cheikh Zaid Foundation for its commitment to this shared vision and proud to support the work ahead.”
— Phil Fasone, Executive Director, Vision Share
Corneas for All brings resources and expertise together around a shared goal: helping more patients get corneal care in Morocco. By combining funded tissue access with ongoing education and collaboration, the initiative aims to support participating hospitals as they strengthen their capacity to provide corneal transplantation. Vision Share is grateful to the Cheikh Zaid Foundation and participating physicians and institutions for their commitment to this work. We also recognize our member eye banks and the donors and donor families whose generosity makes tissue donation and the opportunity for sight restoration possible.
To learn more about Vision Share’s work and surgical tissue services, contact our team.
About Vision Share
Vision Share is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and proudly represents the world’s largest network of eye banks. Each member eye bank is Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) certified and registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Guided by a shared vision, Vision Share pools resources to provide surgeons and researchers with ocular tissue tailored to their specific needs.
