Vision Excellence Awards: Elizabeth Kishiki

Elizabeth is a leader in eye care across the Africa region. As the first coordinator for childhood blindness and low vision in Africa, she champions eye care for women and girls in countries where they often have less access to services than men. She is a skilled planner and teacher and for the last 14 years has made measurable impact developing eye care among marginalized groups and has developed innovative programming to reach women and children in isolated areas.

Elizabeth incorporates the whole spectrum of care for children, from establishing mechanisms to identify children with eye conditions early in life, to helping sight-impaired children maximize the use of vision they do have. She provides technical assistance around counseling parents and children; coordinating with other clinics in the area to provide efficient and reliable care, setting up a tracking system for children for referrals and follow-ups, and training school teachers on the importance of early identification of eye conditions. She assists with the development of national pediatric eye care plans and has helped establish several Child Eye Health Tertiary Facilities, in areas that include Kitwe (Zambia), Blantyre (Malawi), Gondar (Ethiopia), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Tororo (Uganda), and Bujumbura (Burundi).

In addition to advising Seva Foundation, she advises other international NGOs and has most recently helped CBM establish low vision programs in Nigeria, as well as Light for the World International in Mozambique to conduct situational analyses to assess child eye health.

She has been involved in writing a series of manuals to assist hospitals and eye health professionals in the child eye health field. Topics include childhood cataracts in Africa, low vision care, and preferred practices. She is a published researcher on topics and questions related to childhood blindness and pediatric eye care services. She is a co-chair for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Gender Equity Working Group, whose purpose is to raise awareness, share ideas, and disseminate evidence on gender equity approaches. Ms. Kishiki is a true eye care superstar and her efforts further Seva Foundations’ commitment to providing quality eye care to women and children in Africa. She inspires confidence in her colleagues of Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology and the community-based program teams with whom she works.