Waiting for corneal transplant surgery doubles in 10 years
The calculation was done with information from the National Transplant System (SNT). The numbers correspond to the consolidated national average and, according to the CBO, the tendency is to increase waiting: in the first six months of this year, the time for corneal transplant surgery was already 369 days.
Several factors may be behind the increase in waiting time. Among them are the lack of values adjustments paid by the procedures and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which replaced patients especially between 2020 and 2023, according to the CBO. From sanitary measures, elective surgeries were suspended, which included corneal transplants.
Experts still point out difficulty maintaining eye banks, due to the high price of inputs “They are quoted in dollars, coin more valued than the real.” Eye banks are institutions responsible for the removal, transportation, evaluation, classification, preservation, storage and availability of donated eye tissues.
Waiting is higher in some states. The CBO survey points out that in the states of Acre, Alagoas and Rio Grande do Norte, the waiting time in line exceeded the thousand days for transplants held in 2024. In Rio de Janeiro, the wait was 1,424 days. However, in other federative units the waiting time was shorter. In Ceará, it was 58 days; in Santa Catarina, 164 days; in Mato Grosso, 227; in the Amazon, 243; And in Sao Paulo, the wait was 247 days.
Until July 2025, Brazil had 31,240 people in the waiting line. São Paulo is the state that concentrates the largest number of patients, with 21% of the national total. Following were Rio de Janeiro, with 16.5%, and Minas Gerais, with 14%.
Despite the delay, Brazil is still well evaluated internationally. CBO experts say national performance is compatible with European countries, besides Canada and Australia, being a highlight in Latin America.
