Optometric Association seeks legislation

Rita Dutta - Mumbai

Asks for formation of Optometry Council of India

In order to streamline professional optometry and filter out the mushrooming unqualified optometrists, Indian Optometric Association (IOA), a body of 6,000 optometrists across the country, is seeking legislation or accreditation for optometry in India. IOA has demanded that the centre allow an Optometry Council of India to be formed exclusively for optometrists. Recently, IOA has submitted a proposal to this effect to the union minister of health, Shatrughan Sinha.

Optometrists say that the legislation would enable standardization of optometry education, which in turn would monitor the burgeoning unqualified optometrists being churned out of small time optometry courses. The proposal states that unqualified optometrists are “jeopardizing ocular health. It is a public health hazard and even has a major contribution towards blindness”. IOA has demanded that a MCI like body be formed to regulate the optometry courses run by various colleges in India.

Says Darshani Desai, president elect, IOA, “Optometry forms an important segment of eye care. In most countries the education and practice of optometry has statutory backing. We want a similar national standardized education for optometry in India.” Experts rue that earlier effort by government to give legislation to optometry has met with failure. It was in 1998 that the ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment mooted the proposal of giving the status of rehabilitation personnel to optometrists along with audiologists, speech therapists, clinical psychologists, physiotherapist and other paramedical staff, under the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).

Recollects N P Baliwalla, past president of IOA, “When the talks of registering optometrists under RCI was initiated, we met RCI members demanding a separate council for optometrists. We felt that a common council would not heed to the interests of optometrists.” However, when the government explained that forming a separate council meant unnecessary expenses, IOA members consented to be a part of RCI. Unexpectedly, in July 1999, the government scraped the project, without giving any explanation.

Says Kunda R Ganatra, regional representative, western region, IOA, “The absence of legislation has resulted in unqualified optometrists outnumbering qualified optometrists.” While there are around 6,000 qualified optometrists in the country, there are more than 7,000 unqualified optometrists. Optometrists allege that in the absence of any standardized course, optometry has become a money-minting venture. “Even BCom and BA students are doing some two months courses and practicing optometry. In many optical shops, the optician acts as an optometrist to prescribe glasses, which is highly dangerous. An optician is only supposed to make glasses and not prescribe glasses,” says Desai. She added that while an optometrist should be confined to prescribing glasses and contact lenses, unqualified optometrists also prescribing medicine for eye.

Optometrists complain that there are no official measures for the promotion of optometry education and whatever is done in this regard is by private corporate bodies and privately run universities. Out of the 18 institutions teaching optometry, only five colleges are government run and one gets UGC grants. Also the National Control of Blindness Programme, which in 1965 emphasised on having more ophthalmic assistants to control blindness has backfired on optometry. At least five colleges in India switched over to teach ophthalmic assistance from optometry. “Optometry has also suffered because it is deemed as expensive, without enjoying any grants from the government,” complains Baliwalla.

According to WHO’s global Vision 2020, prevention of blindness programme, there should be around 40,000 optemtrists by 2020. About 250 optometrists qualify every year. Experts say that once government gives accreditation or legislation to the course, more universities would start running standardized optometry courses. “IOA has suggested that while diploma in optometry be kept as 12 + 2, degree should be for 12+4,” says Desai. IOA also wants the government to specify that every optical shop have an optometrist. “To stop chemists and druggists from prescribing medicine, the government has made it compulsory that every medical shop should have a pharmacist. Similar kind of dictum should be there for optical shop,” says Desai.

While IOA is lobbying hard to get legislation from the centre, members say that even a state legislation would do. What has given a ray of hope to optometrists is when in 2001 the Madhya Pradesh government opened Paramedical Council at the state level, which has given legislation to optometrists along with other paramedical staff.

“The legislation given by Madhya Pradesh government has encouraged us to try legislation at the individual state level also,” says Desai. Meanwhile, Federation of Ophthalmic Research and Education, an advisory body to government of India, is also trying to include ophthalmic technicians, optometrists and orthopetrics under one council.