Indian optometry – from survival to flourishing future

The role of an optometrist in India is slowly and steadily evolving towards the definition matching that of the World Council of Optometry - ‘a primary healthcare practitioner of the eye and the vision system who can successfully manage the leading cause of vision impairment, refractive error, and can also help alleviate the burden of other causes of blindness by way of diagnosis, referral and co-management.’

As primary eye care practitioners, optometrists have to play a vital role in detecting potentially serious eye diseases, such as cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration, as well as systemic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.¹