The extraordinary work of ‘Eye Health Hero’ Naomi Nsubuga will be officially honoured at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness 9th General Assembly (9GA) in Hyderabad, India from 17-20 September.
Ms. Nsubuga’s remarkable determination has impacted upon the lives of 160,000 people in East Africa over the past three years. Through her leadership and grass roots dedication a new era has been created for eye care in the region with almost 93,000 people receiving eye examinations and 66,000 being screened.
Recently elected as the Vice President of the African Council of Optometry, Ms. Nsubuga opted to step down to instead focus on her work with the International Centre for Eyecare Education’s (ICEE) East Africa project. In Tanzania since 2008, she and her ICEE team have helped open 14 vision centres and trained the optometrists and staff to manage these centres. Nearby in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, she has helped train more than 50 health care workers and eye care professionals in either refraction or spectacle cutting skills.
“I believe that the only way forward for eye care in Africa is to generate awareness within the industry, educate students and optometrists on the importance of their work. I mentor young optometrists providing them with a real life context of the greater issues our communities face, this way optometry in East Africa has ambassadors to lead us into the future,” said Ms. Nsubuga.
Ms. Nsubuga’s remarkable determination has impacted upon the lives of 160,000 people in East Africa over the past three years.
The Assembly will honour ‘Eye Health Heroes’ like Naomi whose commitment and dedication to give everyone the ‘Right to Sight’ deserves celebrating.
More than 150 of the world’s leading experts in global blindness prevention, cataract, refractive error, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, childhood blindness, corneal blindness and eye banking will share the stage at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness 9th General Assembly.
The theme, Eye Health: Everyone’s Business, sets the tone of the Assembly, which will include 40 courses, keynote lectures and symposia, where new approaches and practical solutions to improving eye care will be discussed. The Assembly will highlight progress towards the goal of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.
For details visit www.9ga.iapb.org.
