World Optometry Week highlights profession’s commitment to equitable, global eye care
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The theme for this year’s World Optometry Week, March 17 to 23, is “Advancing Optometry’s Commitment to Global Eye Care,” the World Council of Optometry announced in a press release.
“With the launch of the efforts from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, WCO is working to ensure that optometry is part of the development of models to address preventable vision impairment,” Sandra S. Block, OD, MEd, MPH, FAAO, FCOVD, president of the World Council of Optometry (WCO), told Healio. “This includes a focus on recommendations for curriculum content, being a voice in programs to address the burden of preventable visual impairment, ensuring optometry’s concerns and ideas are integrated into the conversation, and helping the profession to grow and fill the human resource gaps for primary eye care.”
In preparation for World Optometry Week, WCO has developed social media resources for optometrists, while the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness has a toolkit to promote integrated, people-centered eye care.
“The reality is that vision issues are often found as a comorbidity for a patient or may even be the first sign of an impending systemic disease process, so receiving care even before there are signs or symptoms can improve overall health outcomes,” Block said. “Even problems that are solely visual, if addressed early, can yield better functional outcomes, including refractive problems. Starting the process with health promotion, ensuring our patients are knowledgeable and think about prevention, and not simply addressing problems after they emerge can improve quality of life.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated March 5, 2024, to include a photograph of Dr. Block. Healio regrets the error.
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