With optical shops mushrooming at every nook and corner of the country, the Government has, for the first time, moved in to regulate their functioning to ensure a standard of "sanitation, hygiene and professional practice".

The Union Health Ministry has set up a panel to deliberate issues like whether the optical stores have the requisite qualification to provide ophthalmology services or for that matter, whether computerised eye tests at most of the optical shops can be relied upon. Presently, these shops are guided by the State Commercial Establishments Act with no check on the quality or standard of the human resources running them.

 "We are talking to all the stakeholders in the industry including associations concerned from eye care industry besides optometrists and ophthalmologists and opticians  from government and private sector to deliberate the issue and recommend provisions for regulation of the optical stores," said Dr Atul Kumar, Chief and Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr RP Centre, AIIMS. Delhi.

In India, usually, the eye care sector is represented by ophthalmologists, optometrists and opticians, the last two operating at the optical stores.

While Ophthalmologists are in the hospital setups and can practice medicine, perform surgery, diagnose and treat eye diseases, and prescribe glasses or contacts, it is Optometrists who play an important role in optical stores: they are not medical doctors, but are primary healthcare practitioners of the eye and vision system who can successfully manage the leading cause of vision impairment (i.e. refractive error). They can also help alleviate the burden of other causes of blindness through diagnosis, referral and co-management.Optician is a technician who has special training in designing and fitting eyeglasses and contacts. He/she does not test or examine patients themselves, but use the prescriptions written by optometrists or ophthalmologists.

The need for regulation has been increasingly felt as a large number of optical stores are springing up in cities as well as in villages. Since they are catering to the health needs related with sensitive organs like eyes, we want to ensure that those providing services particularly optometrists maintain certain standards particularly in villages where eye care awareness is very poor, Dr Kumar said.

More so since optometrists need to play a larger role in detection, management and prevention of diabetes which if untreated leads to retinopathy and ultimately blindness.In the absence of adequate regulations, quacks have also entered into the business, giving wrong prescriptions and fleecing the customers.

The misuse or incorrect eyeglasses or lenses can lead to a number of health concerns if not corrected in time.  Dr Kumar said that the panel will also look into the eye care glasses and lenses' price issues as many times it has been found that the optical shop owners are charging at their whims and fancies. This needs to be regulated to protect the patients from being fleeced.

Though overall increase in population and increasing awareness among people about eye care is primarily responsible for the rampant growth of the optical shops, nevertheless, there are insufficient numbers of optometrists to meet the need."Seventy five-per cent of the blind people in the country are curable but there is acute shortage of optometrists as there are not sufficient schools. To become an Optometrist, one should finish XII class studies with a major in Science subjects and then pursue graduation in Optometry from any of the recognized educational institutions

'Needless to say, a lot of shops are not having qualified optometrists. However, the Government should ensure sufficient schools, upgrade their skills before taking any knee-jerk action," cautioned Mahipal Sachdev, Director, Centre for Sight, a chain of eye centres in North India.

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/govt-to-regulate-functioning-of-optical-shops.html