Vision Excellence Awards: Hannah Faal

Professor Hannah Faal is a renowned leader, researcher, academic, mentor and “elder” in the international world of eye health.

Currently in retirement, she still finds time to dedicate herself to the provision of eye health through various roles. She is an adjunct professor in international eye health in Nigeria. She is also currently a Trustee of the Moorefield Korle Bu Trust. She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and sits on the Global Advisory Board of Our Children’s Vision.

As a researcher, she chairs the Africa Research Vision Institute and she has authored over 60 publications with over 2000 citations and is a reviewer for journals.

Hannah is internationally recognised as one of the founders of the VISION 2020 initiative. Her journey towards achieving this started at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1975 where she obtained her Ophthalmology Fellowship. On completion, she relocated to The Gambia in 1980 with her family to work as the sole ophthalmologist, serving a population then of 800,000. She initiated the concept of comprehensive national eye care programming resulting in a fall in the prevalence of blindness from 0.7% to 0.4% between 1986-1996.

She has served as President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) from 1999-2004. She also served as an advisor to the Prevention of Blindness programme of the World Health Organization (WHO), contributing to the focus on refractive error, low vision services and inclusive education.