Dr. Boateng (Bo) Wiafe, an ophthalmologist who lives and works in Ghana, currently serves as a technical advisor for Operation Eyesight. As Chair of the Primary Eye Care working group within the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), he guides others in implementing a collaborative model of primary eye health care. Henis a WHO Master Trainer for Primary Eye Care
With more than 35 years of experience in eye health care, Dr. Wiafe is recognized as an authority in the development of sustainable eye health care in Africa. Early in his career, he was one of only eight ophthalmologists in Zambia. Working strategically with the government in Zambia, he encouraged them to take a lead role in the development and implementation of quality eye health care. He also mentored and motivated other doctors to become ophthalmologists. In addition, he launched the first primary eye care training course in Zambia. In all of the districts in which he worked, Dr. Wiafe established programs that still serve their communities today, most notably the Lusaka Eye Hospital.
Dr. Wiafe and Victoria Francis co-authored the “Healthy Eyes Activity Book,” a manual for primary schools which has been translated into several languages across the globe. Dr. Wiafe also authored a chapter in the “Glaucoma” textbook by Tarek Shaarawy et al., and he has contributed many articles to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s “Community Eye Health Journal.” In addition, he has lectured and served as external examiner at theOphthalmic Training Programme in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Dr. Wiafe served as principal investigator and lead researcher for the first ever Blindness and Vision Impairment study commissioned by Operation Eyesight in Ghana.
In 2016, Dr. Wiafe was honored by the IAPB as an Eye Health Hero at their General Assembly. This award recognizes exemplary members of the eye health sector from a variety of backgrounds who have emerged as change-makers, innovators and leaders.
Boateng Wiafe
MD