“The primary healthcare providers for the eyes and visual system are optometrists. They offer comprehensive eye and vision care, including refraction and prescription filling, diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases, and rehabilitation of visual system conditions. Optometrists are autonomous, educated, and regulated (licensed/registered).”

International Council of Optometry

Every year on March 23, the globe recognizes optometrists and other eye care professionals with a day dedicated to their celebration.

The International Optometric and Optical League established the day in 1986 to honor the expanding field of optometry worldwide. Around the world, optometry is currently practiced at varying levels, with certain nations still lacking the profession. It is admirable that optometry has grown so quickly since it fills a big need.

Professionals with knowledge of ophthalmology, optics, eye anatomy and physiology, and all illnesses and ailments affecting the eyes can be found in the field of optometry.

In the early and middle 20th century, optometrists perfectly accomplished the art of refraction and concentrated on prescribing the right spectacles, tailored-made for each patient based on their individual optical and binocular vision demands. By the middle to late 20th century, it was evident that optometrists could and would acquire the skills necessary to diagnose, treat, and refract eye conditions of many kinds, many of which could be handled without the need for surgery. In addition, optometrists in a few nations received training in the 1970s on how to assess eyes using diagnostic drugs.

Some of us obtained the legal authorization (LFN, CAP 09) to use oral and topical drugs to treat eye disorders in the 1980s and 90s. Consequently, optometrists emerged as the principal providers of eye care, and the field expanded globally with this concept in mind. The profession of optometry has flourished in many regions of the world thanks to strict licensing and educational requirements that foster public confidence.

In Nigeria, where I practise, we are far more numerous than any other eye care practitioners and better disseminated from the rural areas to urban settings throughout all realms of human settlements.

Optometrists are more easily accessible, less expensive, have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and can clerk, take a thorough medical and ophthalmic history, apply optometric and medical knowledge using scientific methods, and then recommend treatment or professional referral to other medical/health experts as necessary. We use our knowledge to prevent eye injuries and diseases in a professional manner. But as technology has advanced, so too has our field of expertise, and it continues to do so.

Reputable international colleague Dr. J Daniel Twelker, President of Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity, states that optometrists around the world are putting in a lot of effort to ensure proper recognition, obtain optometric education and training, and practice to the highest international standards. He went on to say that our education program aims to maximize opportunities to promote the global development of optometric education because of the strength of teamwork and collaborative research/learning.

Therefore, there is still much work to be done to raise public awareness of the value of maintaining good eye health, the need to prevent blindness and other visual impairments, and the roles that optometrists, ophthalmologists, ophthalmic nurses, opticians, and ophthalmic assistants play in the field of eye care.

Considering the Nigerian environment, optometry has expanded in terms of education and scope, being offered as a healthcare course of study leading to the Doctor of Optometry degree by more than 15 universities.

The Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria oversees the regulation of the profession, which includes eye exams to detect refractive errors and other deviations from optimally healthy and visually efficient eyes; orthoptics corrects binocularity errors; management of eye infections that do not endanger the integrity of the visual system; and ocular first aid.

Primary Health Care Optometry, Paediatric Optometry, Cornea and Contact Lenses, Orthoptics, Low Vision and Rehabilitative Optometry, Ocular Health, and Public Health are further specialization areas. Optometrists can work as consultants for businesses, ministries, and parastatals; as lecturers at universities; as research fellows in research facilities; as medical corps of armed forces personnel; as police, immigration, customs, and road safety corps personnel; as sports and environment vision consultants; and as public health professionals.

In conclusion, the world’s problems with vision impairment and preventable blindness pose a serious threat to public health today. As a separate primary healthcare profession with qualified practitioners who can serve our communities more effectively, more readily, and fairly, we must support optometry.