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Optometric practice upheld in Brazil
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The Brazilian Congress has upheld President Dilma Vana Rousseff’s veto of Medical Bill No. 268/2002, which sought to regulate the medical profession in Brazil and limit optometrists’ scope of practice, according to a World Council of Optometry press release.
The limitations of scope of were so stringent, the release said, that the bill could have made it impossible for optometrists to practice at all.
“This is a very positive move for optometry in Brazil and around the world. Recognition of our profession will ensure more people can benefit from easier access to primary eye health and vision care,” Susan Cooper, OD, president of World Council of Optometry (WCO), said in the release.
The bill has been under discussion for 11 years and has been fiercely fought by medical practitioners in the country. The Brazilian Council of Optometry and Optics has worked to get optometry recognized as a health care profession that contributes to comprehensive and multidisciplinary eye health and vision care in Brazil, according to the release.
In a letter the WCO wrote to the Brazilian Congress prior to Rousseff’s veto being upheld, it said, “The WCO believes that restricting professions which are recognized globally as autonomous to only acting under the supervision of a medically qualified doctor will severely restrict the right of people to easy, immediate and affordable access to health care. Greater access will result in more sight-threatening problems being identified in their early stages, enabling the prevention of blindness and visual impairment. This is particularly true of cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, the incidence of which is increasing as life expectancy increases.”
In July, Rousseff decided in favor of optometry — along with other nonmedical health professionals concerned about the impact of the bill — and vetoed various clauses and articles of the bill that would have impacted optometrists.
"It is crucial for the survival and development of optometry in Brazil that the presidential vetoes are maintained; otherwise, the profession will cease to exist in the country,” Ariel Scussel Malburg, vice president of the Brazilian Council of Optometry and Optics, said in the release. “If the vetoes are maintained, we believe that in a short time we will have a profession which is regulated and whose autonomous practice is guaranteed and able in this manner to contribute to this large and needy country.”