Aaron Magava

Aaron Magava is an Ophthalmologist and a Public Eye Health Expert based in Zimbabwe and a member of the Ophthalmological Society of Zimbabwe, an affiliate of the College of Ophthalmology of East Central and Southern Africa. His work primarily involves eye health administration, patient management and health personnel training at Marondera Provincial Hospital in Mashonaland East, a project which is a partnership between Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Zimbabwe Council for the Blind and Christian Blind Mission (CBM). He is involved in Health Ministry Eye Health Policy and Strategic document development as well as advising on Implementation Plans in Eye Health at facility level. This function is performed under several portfolios he holds. These include being the IAPB Chair for Sub Saharan Africa (which he has occupied in the past four years), as a member of the Eye Health Expert committee in the East Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) which advises Health Ministers on areas pertaining to Eye Health Care, as the CBM Inclusive Eye Health Initiative medical advisor for Africa South and as a member of the National Prevention of Blindness Committee in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe. Some of the achievements during his tenure as IAPB Chair of the Sub Saharan Africa region include the launch of the Core Competencies document for the Eye Health Worker Team with WHO AFRO as well as the Primary Eye Health Training Manual which was field tested in Ghana. They are also involved in the East Central and Southern Africa Health Community as the current Co-Chair. During this time, they facilitated the discussion which resulted in a Ministerial Resolution on Eye Health. Through their advocacy efforts, several countries have integrated Human Resources for Eye Health into the Human Resources for Health. Further advocacy efforts with WAHO has resulted in a change within countries to include eye health indicators in the Health Ministries’ HMIS systems.