Nigerian ophthalmology legend

Professor Hannah Faal

Professor Hannah Faal is a distinguished Nigerian ophthalmologist and global leader in eye health. She obtained her MBBS degree from the University of Ibadan in 1970. She subsequently trained in the United Kingdom, earning her fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1976, a diploma in ophthalmology from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and later became a fellow of both the West African College of Surgeons and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.

From 1976 to 1980, she served at the University of Benin and the University of Benin teaching hospital as lecturer I, senior lecturer and consultant ophthalmologist. During this period, she played a key role in establishing the ophthalmology residency programme and the ophthalmic nursing course.

In 1980, she relocated to the Gambia, where her late husband, Dr M’bye Faal, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, was from. There she became the sole ophthalmologist serving a population of approximately 800,000 people. Confronted with a high burden of avoidable blindness, she undertook further training at the Institute of Ophthalmology, London, obtaining a diploma in community eye health in 1985.

On her return to the Gambia, Professor Faal conceptualised and led a 10-year, phased, comprehensive national eye care programme, spanning community, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Implemented with the commitment of the Gambian Ministry of Health and in partnership with the Government of the Gambia, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH), the Medical Research Council Gambia and several nongovernmental organisations, the programme ensured that every Gambian lived within 5–30 km of a health facility providing primary eye care education and services. During its first decade, the programme contributed to a reduction in trachomatous blindness prevalence from 17% to 5%. The lessons and model from this work significantly influenced the development of the global ‘VISION 2020: The right to sight’ initiative, a partnership between WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).

Professor Faal is an adjunct professor of International Eye Health at the University of Calabar and a consultant ophthalmologist at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, where she also serves as chair of the cancer advisory board. A prolific academic, she has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications and has been a reviewer for multiple international journals. She has over 6,800 citations on Google Scholar and has been ranked as the leading female academic at the University of Calabar and number one in the Africa medical and health sciences/ophthalmology ‘Top 100 scientists’ listing.

In Cross River State, Nigeria, she has supported eye health since 1981. She was instrumental in bringing Sightsavers International to establish and support the state eye care programme. Under this initiative, the number of state-employed ophthalmologists increased from one in 2004 to eight in 2008 and similar programmes were replicated in seven other Nigerian states. At the global level, she has helped guide Sightsavers’ transition from a primarily eye-care organisation to one more broadly engaged in health systems strengthening across programmes in 34 countries.

Her leadership roles in global ophthalmology and eye health have been extensive. She served as senior vice-president and then president of the IAPB from 1994 to 2004 and has been an active member of the International Council of Ophthalmology. She co-chairs the Africa Vision Research Institute and is active in the ICEH Links and Networks Programme, where she is a strong advocate for research ‘in the global South, by the global South, for the global South’, continually calling for a change in the narrative around low- and middle-income countries.

Now in semi-retirement, Professor Faal continues to contribute through multiple strategic and advisory roles. She serves as a trustee or board member for organisations in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, including christian blind mission (CBM) Nigeria, the Moorfields–Korle Bu trust, Vision Action, the Sickle Cell Retinopathy Network and the Cataract Development Group of the WHO Global Eye Health Research Agenda. She is also a member of the strategic and technical advisory group on the WHO Services, Personnel, Education, Cost, Surveillance (SPECS) 2030 Initiative.

Professor Faal has received numerous honours and awards. These include the order of the Republic of the Gambia (2005), the IAPB Vision Excellence Award, the Africa Ophthalmology Council Icon Award and an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, a distinction she particularly treasures.

Her pioneering work in community eye health, her leadership in shaping national and global eye care policy and her lifelong commitment to the prevention of blindness firmly establish Professor Hannah Faal as a true legend of ophthalmology.