Core competencies for the eye health workforce in the WHO African Region
Worldwide, 285 million persons are visually impaired. Among these, 39 million are blind and 246 million suffer from low vision. Visual impairment increases with age (13). Sixty-five percent (65%) of the visually impaired and 82% of the blind are above 50 years of age (11). In Africa, there are 4.8 million blind persons and 16.6 million visually impaired; yet, even with the huge burden of eye disorders in Africa, less than 1% of the global number of ophthalmologists practise in Africa. Only 13 countries in Africa meet the minimum requirement of one eye health professional to 55,000 people (14). Most ophthalmologists and optometrists practise in urban areas while allied ophthalmic personnel (AOP) tend to move out of the capital cities to smaller towns.
