Transaid expands eye care for Kenya’s professional drivers

5th February 2026

Transaid has announced the scale up of its Madereva Salama Zaidi (Safer Roads) Project, focused on improving access to road safety information and basic health services for truck drivers, including a targeted eye health initiative for professional drivers and roadside communities in Kenya. As in the first phase, the second phase will be delivered in partnership with North Star Alliance and DOT Glasses.

Building on proven impact

The second phase of the Madereva Salama Zaidi Project builds on the success of an earlier six-month outreach programme at two North Star Alliance Wellness Centres, supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, which saw a series of road safety and health factsheets developed for dissemination by outreach workers.

Feedback from drivers highlighted widespread eyesight problems and irritation, often linked to long hours behind the wheel. In response, Transaid secured additional funding from the Gibbs and Morel Trusts to deliver a targeted eye-health intervention.

Over a three-month period, the project delivered 4,107 eye-health screenings, resulting in:

• 971 drivers and community members prescribed glasses
• 110 individuals referred to a specialist clinic in central Mombasa for further assessment

Expanding eye health services in phase two

Phase two is expected to see up to 1,000 individuals fitted with corrective lenses. These services are provided alongside routine non-communicable disease screenings at the North Star Alliance Wellness Centres near the Port of Mombasa – a major transport hub for HGV drivers.

The scale up comes at a critical time. Between 2019 and 2020, Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority recorded a troubling 64% increase in road traffic fatalities along the Northern Corridor, underscoring the growing urgency of addressing safety concerns.

Voices from the project

 

Asha Mongale, clinician at the North Star Alliance Wellness Centre, says: “I enjoy assembling the glasses and watching patients try them on for the first time. We can adjust them, so we always get the fit perfect. Many of the drivers like to walk to the front gate and look along the highway, lifting the glasses on and off their face. It might be the first time they are able to see such a long distance. They’re always smiling when they come back in.”

 

 

Jason Finch, Programmes Support Manager for Transaid, says: “Expanding the Madereva Salama Zaidi Project is a big step for improving the safety and wellbeing of the individuals that keep Kenya’s transport systems moving. Professional drivers are often working long hours in challenging conditions limiting their access to information and healthcare. Untreated vision problems exacerbate challenges linked to safety, putting both them and other road users at risk. Through phase one of the project, we were able to see how significant the need is, and how impactful this project will continue to be.”

 

In December 2025, Jason Finch attended the North Star Alliance’s Regional Conference on Transport Corridors and Health to present the project and discuss the need for delivery partners to be flexible and ready to respond to evolving health and safety needs as part of a panel on supporting the well-being and security of professional drivers across the East Africa region.