The first optometry course to be established in Mozambique, a collaborative effort between ICEE, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Optometry Department, University of Ulster and Universidade Lurio (Uni Lurio), will help to drastically reduce avoidable blindness in the region and provide an important foundation for building sustainable eye care in the country.

The Mozambique Eye Care Project, being undertaken at Universidade Lurio, will train Mozambique’s first professional optometrists and optometry technicians and help establish a comprehensive eye-care system as an integral part of the national health system.

According to Dr James Loughman, from DIT Optometry Department, Mozambique currently has only 13 ophthalmologists serving a population of 21 million, and no optometrists or dispensing opticians. “This means that very few people undergo eye examinations and when they do there is often no way to make up (glaze) their glasses.”

“This project is based in the Nampula province in Northern Mozambique which has a population of 4.1 million and only one ophthalmologist. Typically, the ophthalmologist examines 150 patients a day, working in very difficult conditions in the Central Hospital, Nampula. To put this in context, in Ireland, with a similar population, there are 860 registered optometrists and over 200 registered ophthalmologists. On average an optometrist in Ireland will see some 14 patients per day.”

Professor Kovin Naidoo, ICEE Global Programme Director commented, “Africa suffers from disproportionate levels of avoidable blindness. With only 10% of the world’s population it accounts for 19% of the avoidable blindness worldwide. At the recent WHO Health Assembly, a resolution was passed to expand efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness by strengthening national eye-health programmes. This is a great example of how partnerships help us deliver eye care to local communities and build infrastructure to build a sustainable holistic primary healthcare facility.”

The Mozambique Eye Care Project is a response to “Vision 2020: the Right to Sight” – an global initiative of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. It is estimated that there are over 670 million people worldwide who need correction for refractive error and 80% of these cases could be easily avoided or treated.

The project is the result of a proposal led by Professor Kovin Naidoo (ICEE), Professor Jorge Ferrão (Uni Lurio), Dr Loughman (DIT) and Professor Roger Anderson (University of Ulster). It was officially launched by Irish Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power, on 18 June at the National Optometry Centre, Dublin Institute of Technology.

Irish Aid has awarded funding of £1.5 million to support the objective of providing sustainable solutions to community health and poverty, using Irish optometry expertise in Mozambique. ICEE will provide additional funding for equipment and vision centres and is devising a curriculum for Professor Naidoo’s two tiered exit system (Optometry Technicians exiting the course after two years) which will be accessible to all developing nations.