Dr Henry Nkumbe’s journey to becoming an ophthalmologist started at the age of 13, when his mother took him to see an eye specialist at the Presbyterian Hospital at Ndounge, in the Littoral region of Cameroon.  Three things fueled his desire to become an eye specialist on that day:

  1. He received his first prescription glasses, which corrected his myopia, giving him perfect vision for the first time
  2. By the time they got to the hospital at 6AM, there were anywhere between 200 and 300 people all waiting to be seen by the same eye specialist. Henry realized for the first time that there were many people who also had eye problems and something needed to be done.
  3. The eye specialist who attended to him was very gentle, patient and cordial, despite the huge crowd waiting outside to be seen by him.

After completing Medical School in Germany and Switzerland, Dr Henry Nkumbe had a 5 months assignment with the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, before proceeding to the University of Nairobi, Kenya for his ophthalmology residency.  He passed his end of ophthalmology residency examinations with distinction and went back to WHO for two years, before joining CBM, an International Disability organization as ophthalmologist to Tanzania and Madagascar.  Following a stint with the Eye Foundation Hospital in Nigeria in 2012, Dr Henry Nkumbe proceeded to Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India, for a fellowship in surgical retina.

After completing Medical School in Germany and Switzerland, Dr Henry Nkumbe had a 5 months assignment with the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, before proceeding to the University of Nairobi, Kenya for his ophthalmology residency.  He passed his end of ophthalmology residency examinations with distinction and went back to WHO for two years, before joining CBM, an International Disability organization as ophthalmologist to Tanzania and Madagascar.  Following a stint with the Eye Foundation Hospital in Nigeria in 2012, Dr Henry Nkumbe proceeded to Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India, for a fellowship in surgical retina.

Dr Henry Nkumbe also holds a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Community Health from the University of Heidelberg in Germany and an MSc in Community Eye Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  He is also a fellow of the West African College of Surgeons.   Dr Henry Nkumbe is the founding president of CAMFOMEDICS (the Germano Cameroonian Forum for the Medical Sciences) and founding general secretary of the African Ophthalmology Forum (now African Ophthalmology Council).  He has equally served as the Lions Clubs International’s Sightfirst Programme’s technical advisor to francophone Africa and West Africa.  Throughout his career, Dr Henry Nkumbe has worked in Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Germany, Switzerland, England and India in various capacities.  He also taught on the community eye health course hosted by the Groote Schur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.

In recognition of significant contributions in the fight against blindness in Madagascar as well as the training of eye care professionals there, he was raised to the rank of Knight of the Malagasy Order of Merit by the President of the Republic Madagascar in 2012.  Other awards include: The DAAD Prize Award winner for the University of Goettingen, Germany (1995),  The University of Nairobi Prize for Academic Excellence (2008), The Treacher Collins Award by the Royal College of Surgeons in Birmingham (2011), The American Academy of Ophthalmology Education Award (2011) the Returnees Award (Douala, Cameroon – 2017), the CAMFOMEDICS Award (Berlin, Germany -2018), Jean and Jacques Chibret Award (Paris, France – 2019) and a visiting professorship to He University in Shenyang, China (Shenyang, 2019).  He is especially interested in the integration of artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain technology in health care.

Dr Henry Nkumbe is married to Fitnat Nkumbe, and they are blessed with 3 adorable children.