For James Muye, the challenge was never just living with low vision. Like many people who rely on inclusive eye health services, accessing the support he needed often meant travelling long distances and delaying care.
At work, reading documents from a distance can be difficult. In social settings, he sometimes struggles to recognise people, leading to awkward misunderstandings. Living with albinism means managing both a skin condition and low vision, yet accessing the support he needed often involved travelling more than 100 kilometres from his home in Kilifi County.
"I have had to postpone appointments and wait until I had enough resources," he recalls.
For years, that journey reflected a challenge faced by many people living with low vision across Kenya, where specialised support services remain out of reach for many communities.
For him, the cost of transport, consultations and assistive devices often competed with other household priorities. Like many people living with low vision, he needed more than a medical appointment. He needed support that would help him navigate daily life and maintain his independence.
His experience is not unique. It reflects a broader gap in inclusive eye health systems. While diagnosis and treatment services have expanded, access to low vision assessment, rehabilitation and assistive support remains limited, particularly outside major urban centres. Many people are therefore forced to travel further or go without the support they need.
The challenge is not simply a shortage of services. It is about how those services are organised and accessed.
To address this gap, healthcare workers from public and private facilities across Kilifi County are strengthening their ability to identify, assess and support people living with low vision and other forms of visual impairment. Through collaboration between the Eye Focus Project, Kilifi County Government and the Kenya Society for the Blind, specialised knowledge that was once concentrated in a handful of institutions is becoming more accessible at community level.
Through the initiative, James underwent a comprehensive low vision assessment and was introduced to assistive technologies designed to improve everyday life. The assessment also highlighted a common misconception about low vision.
Albert's observation highlights an often-overlooked reality: many people living with low vision need practical support, appropriate referrals and assistive solutions that enable them to participate fully in education, employment and community life.
Recognising this gap is only the first step. According to Kilifi County Eye Care Coordinator Dr. Geoffrey Anaya, low vision support is frequently the missing link in the continuum of care.
"By equipping healthcare workers to advocate for, assess low vision and provide support, the initiative is bringing essential services closer to the communities that need them most."
Crucially, this network extends across both public and private healthcare providers. Public facilities, alongside private healthcare providers, are becoming part of a more connected ecosystem that links communities to specialised support.
As a result, patients have clearer pathways to support, while providers are better equipped to identify needs, offer guidance and connect individuals to specialised services when required.
For James, improved access to low vision services means greater confidence and independence.
"With services coming closer," he says, "life becomes much more comfortable."
His experience reflects a challenge faced by many people living with low vision, where the greatest barrier is often not the condition itself, but access to the support needed to learn, work and participate fully in society.
By strengthening links between county health services, specialist organisations and healthcare providers, Kilifi is beginning to close that gap. What is emerging is more than better access to care. It is a more inclusive approach to healthcare, one that recognises the importance of support, referrals and assistive solutions alongside medical treatment.
Increasingly, providers are strengthening their ability to support people living with low vision. The opportunity is to ensure these services become a routine part of healthcare delivery rather than an exception. Expanding these networks and referral pathways will be critical to ensuring that more people can access low vision services closer to home and live with greater independence and opportunity.
The Eye Focus Project is implemented by Swisscontact and funded by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) via The Fred Hollows Foundation, with support from the Novartis Foundation.