Professor Kovin Naidoo

Professor Kovin Naidoo has joined Essilor in a newly-created position as Senior Vice President of inclusive business, philanthropy and social impact.

Formerly CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute and former Africa Chair of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Professor Naidoo is internationally celebrated as a public health leader, this year receiving the Carel C. Koch Memorial Medal Award from American Academy of Optometry for his work fostering relationships between optometry and other professions.

Essilor’s chief mission officer, Jayanth Bhuvaraghan commented, “Kovin has dedicated his professional life to delivering eye care to people in need. As one of the leading minds working towards solving the uncorrected refractive error problem around the world, his diverse experience will strengthen our efforts to eradicate poor vision by 2050.”

Professor Naidoo said, “All my life I have been driven by the passion to make a positive impact on the world’s vision. I have supported Essilor’s initiatives to reach those living with uncorrected poor vision for a long time both as a collaborator and independent adviser. This move gives me the opportunity to take my actions to a new scale and I look forward to working with such a dedicated team.”

Uncorrected poor vision is the world’s most widespread disability and affects 2.5 billion people, 90% of whom live in developing countries. Every year US$272bn is wasted in the global economy due to lost productivity as a result of uncorrected poor vision. This impact is felt most acutely in rural areas where awareness and access to vision care is often poor.