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Help eliminate refractive blindness
As optometrists, we all appreciate the importance and power of a good refraction. Just a few simple clicks of the phoropter can render an otherwise blurry, barely detectable world into a clear, vivid existence. It is the very reason that millions of people visit their optometrist yearly and is the single most recognizable service that we provide. Simply put, in the public’s eye, optometry is synonymous with refracting.
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Of course, we also realize that refracting – while important – is just a small part of what we do and who we are. For most optometrists, our days are spent prescribing specialty contact lenses, interpreting visual fields in glaucoma, analyzing imaging studies of the macula, removing corneal foreign bodies and providing postoperative care.
Optometry’s expansion is the result of a decades-long evolution in which we have assumed the role of primary eye care providers. It is a role we have embraced – a role to better serve our patients’ needs. Amidst all this change, the refraction, albeit no less important, seems less significant. It is no longer the one thing with which the public equates optometry.
While the refraction has become seemingly less significant in U.S. practices, it has quietly emerged as a significant factor on a much bigger stage – that of the global community. Over the past few decades, the World Health Organization, in conjunction with various service organizations, has made significant strides in reducing the prevalence of diseases causing blindness. Conditions such as trachoma (still common in emerging nations) and cataract are being more aggressively treated worldwide.
As a result, an increasingly larger percentage of the world’s blindness is of a refractive nature. In fact, Optometry Giving Sight now estimates that three-fourths of all blindness worldwide is preventable or treatable. The World Health Organization estimates that 50% of all blindness in Africa is refractive in nature. In short, many of the world’s blind are simply in need of a good refraction.
No doubt, eliminating refractive blindness worldwide will be no easy task. Economic issues, civil unrest, cultural barriers and a lack of practitioners are all significant barriers. However, they are not insurmountable, and there is no other profession better suited than optometry to undertake this challenge. It is one of the reasons the World Conference on Optometric Globalization was convened and why service organizations such as Optometry Giving Sight and VOSH International exist. Their mission is simple – educate the world about refractive blindness, provide eye care to the underserved and train resident clinicians to care for their fellow countrymen.
Of course, none of this happens without resources, and this is where each of us can help. There is no better way to participate than by supporting World Sight Day on Oct. 9. Whether you make a monetary contribution or volunteer your time, get involved. It is in this very spirit that optometry has long distinguished itself as a great service profession, and there is no better cause than that of eliminating worldwide refractive blindness.