ISLAMABAD: Office bearers of the Pakistan Optometry and Vision Sciences Association (Povsa) and Pakistan Optometric Society (POS) have demanded a separate regulatory body.

They have also proposed that the body be called ‘Pakistan Optometry and Vision Sciences Council’. In a joint statement, the POS KP President Hanifur Rahman Bangash, Vice President Ajmal Khan, Finance Secretary Asadullah and Povsa spokesperson Dr Sayeed Tajik urged the government to notify formation of the council.

The draft of the council’s charter has already been approved by the National Committee for Eye Health.They have also demanded lifting of the ban imposed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on the undergraduate course of optometry. The ban instructs higher education institutions (HEIs) not to use the title of ‘Doctor’ in their BS degrees nomenclature.

Optometry, according to the World Council of Optometry (WCO), is a healthcare profession that is separate from ophthalmology.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2020