Kovin Naidoo joins Essilor

Professor Kovin Naidoo has been appointed as senior vice president of inclusive business, philanthropy and social impact at Essilor.

In the newly-created position, Professor Naidoo will be responsible for leading the company's efforts to reach 2.5 billion people living with uncorrected poor vision.

Professor Naidoo joins Essilor as a well-known public health leader who was recognised by the American Academy of Optometry earlier this year when he was awarded the Carmel C Koch Memorial Medal Award for outstanding contributions to the enhancement of development of relationships between optometry and other professionals.

He has previously held roles as CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute and is a former Africa chair of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

Speaking about his appointment, Professor Naidoo said: “Joining Essilor, an organisation that shares my commitment to the cause and personal values, gives me the opportunity to take my actions to a new scale and I look forward to working with such a dedicated team.”

Welcoming him to the role, chief mission officer at Essilor, Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, said: “A longstanding friend of Essilor, Kovin has dedicated his professional life to delivering eye care to people in need. As one of the leading minds working in solving the uncorrected refractive error problem around the world, his unique and diverse experience will add further strength to our inclusive business and philanthropic efforts around the world as we strive towards our ambition of eradicating poor vision by 2050.”