In the landscape of modern medical education, optometry remains one of the most under-recognised yet critical professions in Bangladesh. Despite the rising number of visual health problems and the growing demand for eye care professionals, the education, professional recognition, licensing, and rights of optometrists are still inadequately addressed in our national health system.
Optometry is a primary health care profession concerned with examining, diagnosing, managing, and treating visual disorders and eye diseases. Globally, optometrists play a vital role in eye care teams, alongside ophthalmologists and other vision professionals. However, in Bangladesh, the role of optometrists is often misunderstood or merged with other allied health services, leading to confusion, a lack of regulation, and professional neglect.
There are only a handful of institutions in Bangladesh that offer a formal Bachelor of Optometry (B.Optom) program. These include institutions like the Institute of Community Ophthalmology (ICO) at Chittagong Medical University, Bangladesh Eye Hospital & Institute, and a few private setups. Unfortunately, most of these programs face critical issues such as poor infrastructure, lack of qualified faculty, and outdated curriculum. The absence of a central optometry regulatory body or standardized syllabus further complicates the quality and consistency of education.
Unlike India, Malaysia, or Western countries where optometry degrees are designed based on international guidelines set by the World Council of Optometry (WCO) and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Bangladesh still lacks a robust system for course accreditation and curriculum alignment. This has left many local graduates in a dilemma regarding their future, job eligibility, and international recognition.
In Bangladesh, medical education, especially in allied health sciences like optometry, often operates under ambiguous affiliation structures. To ensure academic integrity and national recognition, all optometry programs must be affiliated with recognized public or private universities and approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Furthermore, a uniform curriculum needs to be developed in consultation with international optometry education standards. Subjects such as optics, ocular anatomy, clinical refraction, contact lens, binocular vision, pediatric optometry, ocular pharmacology, low vision, orthoptics, public health eye care, and ocular diseases must be comprehensively included.
* Formation of the Bangladesh Optometry Council (BOC): To regulate education, licensing, and practice.
* Mandatory University Affiliation: All optometry courses should be under UGC-recognized institutions.
* National Curriculum Standardization: Based on WCO guidelines to ensure global compatibility.
* Introduction of Licensing Examination: For all graduates before allowing clinical practice.
*
Legally Defined Scope of Practice: Optometrists should have rights to
examine, diagnose, treat, refer, and prescribe within their scope
* Postgraduate Education Programs: M.Optom and Ph.D. programs must be established in public universities.
*
Government Jobs and Salary Structure: Optometrists must be integrated
into government hospitals with fair pay and promotion scopes.
* Public Awareness Campaigns: Educating the population and policymakers on who optometrists are and their role in eye care.
Currently, there is no independent licensing authority for optometrists in Bangladesh. Unlike India, where bodies like the Optometry Council of India (OCI) regulate the profession, or Malaysia and Singapore, where optometrists are registered under their respective Health Ministries, Bangladesh lacks any national registry or licensing exam system.
This not only jeopardizes patient safety but also undermines the professional credibility of trained optometrists. It allows unqualified personnel to practice vision care without legal or ethical accountability. A national optometry council must be established urgently, with authority to issue licenses, enforce practice standards, and penalize malpractice.
Optometrists in Bangladesh face significant professional discrimination. In many clinics and hospitals, they are not even allowed to write prescriptions independently, despite their training. Their contributions to refractive error correction, early detection of eye diseases like glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy, and post-operative visual rehabilitation are either undervalued or ignored.
In contrast, in countries with established optometry frameworks, optometrists are authorized to prescribe spectacles, contact lenses, therapeutic eye drops, and refer patients to ophthalmologists for surgical intervention. Bangladesh must take lessons from these models and legally define the scope of optometry practice through proper legislative amendments.
Optometry, like other medical sciences, needs to be supported by continuous academic and research growth. Currently, there are extremely limited opportunities for postgraduate optometry education (M.Optom, Ph.D.) in Bangladesh. This pushes our brightest students to pursue education abroad, especially in India, Malaysia, and Australia, resulting in brain drain.
The government and universities must take immediate steps to introduce Master's and Doctoral programs in optometry to build local academic leaders, researchers, and faculty members. Investment in research grants, scholarships, and international collaborations is also essential.
Optometrists in Bangladesh are poorly paid compared to other healthcare professionals, despite having similar lengths of education and clinical training. Entry-level salaries in many private hospitals range between BDT 20,000 to 25,000 per month-an amount that fails to reflect their skill, responsibility, or contribution to public health.
In contrast, countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and the UAE offer competitive salaries to optometrists, recognizing their critical role in eye health delivery systems. There needs to be a structured pay scale in both government and private sectors, with clearly defined career ladders, continuing education requirements, and specialization tracks such as pediatric optometry, low vision therapy, or vision rehabilitation.
To address these longstanding issues, the following actions are urgently needed:
Optometry is not a luxury service, it is a fundamental part of modern healthcare. As Bangladesh aims to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to universal health coverage, it cannot ignore the importance of eye care and the professionals who deliver it. Elevating the status of optometry through educational reform, licensing, and legal recognition is not just a demand from professionals; it is a public health necessity.
It's time we recognise that vision is not a privilege, it is a right, and trained optometrists are crucial in safeguarding that right for all.
The writer is Assistant Professor, Management and Science University, Malaysia
