Optometry undergraduates Marcello Leucci and Mahrukh Mohammad recently returned from Tanzania where they launched Training Optometrists in Africa Online (TOA Online) at the African Council of Optometry meeting. This is a web based resource that they have developed with Dr Hannah Bartlett and the Tanzania Optometric Association to provide training materials for continuing education and development.
Tanzania has one of the lowest optometrist/population ratios in Africa with only around 250 optometrists for a population of 40 million, and is the only country in east and central Africa where optometry is a legislated profession under the Optometry Act 2007 (brought into force on May 1st 2008). Optometry will be governed by the Optometric Council, similar to the General Optical Council (GOC) of the UK. The ultimate aim of the council is to encourage professional development and make continuing education a pre-requisite for registration to practice in Tanzania.
TOA Online supports the work of the Tanzanian Optometric Council by enabling all eye care professionals to access learning materials via the internet thus facilitating continuing professional development and registration.
Words by Julia Brown
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