Vision 2020 and the role of Optometry Practise in Nigeria- episode 7

Optom
Vision 2020 : Right to sight is all about strategy, about means to an end in itself, though not necessarily an end. Optometry is strategically straddled with a huge responsibility aimed @ blindness prevention and promotion  healthy eye sight. Contrary to that believe that our position in the area of Vision 2020 is @ best a fluke, evidence abounds today that the success of Vision 2020 especially in Africa is a function of how effective Optometrists are and their relationship with the Ophthalmologists. In the hierarchy of Vision 2020 development plan the Optometrists, as the Primary eye care practitioner, are positioned in the upper pyramid of blindness prevention cadre. It is obvious to note that the Optometrist, contrary to popular believe, is pivotal in expunging most embarrassing causes of preventable blindness.
Vision 2020 : Right to sight is based on the following objectives:
1) Creating awareness as a viable option for disease prevention and control. (The Optometrist as a Primary Eye care Physician is expected to play a major role in disease control; having in mind the cliche: "Prevention is better than cure", "A stitch in time saves nine", "Early detection of eye anomalies is sine qua non to effective blindness prevention" etc)
2) Capital to facilitate and sustain blindness prevention activities. (Optometrists are largely in private practise in Nigeria. Capital to sustain blindness prevention activities in private eye care practise shouldered by the patients if it should be sustained and this pinches most the vulnerable patients a lot! Unlike in government run health centres where patient's cost of sustaining prevention of blindness activities is highly subsidized by the government. More Optometrists are expected to absorbed by the ministries of healths [Both @ federal and state levels] to compliment the efforts of the Ophthalmologists, who are largely in public practise! It should be noted that Ophthalmic nurses and GPs are not more versed in Eye care than the Optometrist! Again, the government could encourage the rapid development of Private practise in eye care by providing credits and sustainable environment that can develop a sustained prevention of blindness activities.)
3) How to ensure effective planning, development and implementation of Vision 2020 core stategy. These includes-
a) Disease control: It should be noted that Diabetes Mellitus, Onchocerciasis, Chicken Pox, Small pox, HIV, Hypertension, Trachoma, Tuberculosis etc could lead to sight threatening eye conditions. As Primary eye care Practitioner, we are expected to know about these diseases, how they can cause blindness; we need to develop plans aimed @ preventing these diseases, a need to identify the ocular manifestations of these diseases on time and adopting a management approach...
b) Human resource development : I discussed how Optometrists are building on their human resources from the schools of Optometry (3 of those schools are in Nigeria!), doing continuous education aimed @ practise development by Optometrists etc More needs to be done though, like developing residency in Optometry etc.
c) Developing infrastructure and latest technologies: Eye care requires lots of equipment to increase effectiveness. Most of these equipments are concentrated in private practise...consequently, most patients can not access them because of high cost. Unfortunately still, most government hospital Optometrist's section does not have one single modern equipment to facilitate effectiveness in eye care! This seriously needs to be addressed @ length!
To be continued...

Dr Victor Ezebuiroh Okwudiri.