Optometrist

An optometrist, also referred to as a doctor of optometry (OD), is a professional who provides primary eye care to the community. Optometrists examine patients’ eyes to ensure proper eye health.

By checking for and diagnosing eye diseases and vision problems such as refractive error, improper color and depth perception, and improper ocular movement or function, optometrists provide the important first line of defense against visual impairment and blindness.

While optometrists do not perform surgery or provide more advanced eye care to patients, they are often responsible for providing pre- and postoperative care to eye surgery patients. Most commonly, optometrists prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses and provide eye-related therapy or rehabilitation. While such services and facilities are considered common in the developed world, they are, nevertheless, vital to the productivity and well-being of much of the world's population.

There has always been a substantial need for optometrists in rural or poverty-stricken regions. However, many optometrists are drawn to more lucrative locations of practice, leaving certain regions of the world sorely lacking in access to primary eye care. While there is usually one optometrist for every 10,000 people in developed countries, the number of people per single optometrist can range from 600,000 to 1 million in developing countries.

The implications of this disparity are obvious. For example, in rural India an estimated 86 percent of refractive error remained uncorrected in 2002. Data from other poor regions in Nepal, Chile, and rural China corroborate this and reveal the glaring inequity in access to optometric care.

For international eye health efforts such as Vision 2020 to succeed, several educational, economic, and logistical issues must be addressed in order to promote optometry globally and provide important primary eye care to those who need it.