Dr Henry Nkumbe's profile
Dr Henry Nkumbe
Henry went to medical school in Switzerland and Germany. He graduated from the University of Goettingen in Germany in 1998, where he was awarded the DAAD (Germany Academic Exchange) prize in 1996. During his third year in Medical School, Henry became the founding member of CAMFOMEDICS (Cameroonian Forum for Medical Sciences, www.camfomedics.net).
Following a stint with GTZ at their German headquarters in Eschborn and WHO in Geneva, he did his residency in ophthalmology at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Henry completed the residency in 2002 with distinction and was subsequently awarded the University of Nairobi prize for academic excellence.
In 2002, he joined the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases of the World Health Organisation in Geneva (TDR) as a research scientist for two years. During this time, he was involved in the design and monitoring of clinical and community-based research on severe malaria in several African countries, China and Bangladesh.
In 2004, he joined CBM and worked in CCBRT Dar es salaam and KCMC/KCCO in Moshi for one year, focusing on paediatric ophthalmology and community eye health. He enrolled on the MSc. CEH course at LSHTM during the 2005/2006 academic year and also took courses in leadership and entrepreneurship while in London.
In September 2006, Henry was assigned to Madagascar by CBM. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Madagascar and the Malagasy Ophthalmological Society, he has been instrumental in the implementation of VISION 2020 at national and district level as well as in the training of eye doctors and middle level ophthalmic personnel. Henry was also key to the establishment of a VISION 2020 link between Leeds NHS Trust and Madagascar.
From February 2007 to March 2009, he was member of the ICO/MEACO Advisory Leadership Group (ALG) that subsequently gave birth to the African Ophthalmology Forum (AOF), which he serves as General Secretary. It was during the ALG leadership training that he created the Ophtalmo (http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/ophtalmo/) and AfricaVision (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricaVision/), respectively ophthalmology discussion groups in the French and English language.