President of the World Council of Optometry (WCO) Professor George Woo will begin a two-day visit to Guyana today.
According to a statement from Guyana Association of Optometrists (GAO) President Michele Ming, as part of activities during his visit, Professor Woo will give a brief introduction of the WCO and the role of the optometrist in primary eye care at a seminar this evening at Herdmanston Lodge.
The seminar, which is being hosted by the Regional Health Services’ unit of the Health Ministry, will also feature a presentation on “Diabetic Retinopathy – Screening and Management” by Ophthalmo-logist Dr. Neeraj Jain. It is to begin at 6pm at Herdmanston Lodge, at Peter Rose and Lamaha streets.
Meanwhile, Professor Woo also has meetings scheduled with stakeholders in the vision care field, including Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy, the Dean of Health and Sciences Faculty Dr Emanuel Cummings of the University of Guyana as well as optometry students and lecturers. He is also to meet with officials of the Refraction and Low Vision Centre at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Eye Care Guyana, and the Caribbean Council for the Blind.
Professor Woo is the Dean of the faculty of the Health and Social Science and Chair Professor of Optometry in Hong Kong. He graduated from the college of Optometry of Ontario, Canada, receiving his Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree from the University of Waterloo. He obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in physiological optics from Indiana University, in the US.
He is also fellow and a Diplomate in Low Vision of the American Academy of Optometry and an Honorary Professor at China Sun Yat-Sen University and Tianjin University.
His research interests include low vision, myopia, contrast sensitivity function, refraction and contact lenses.
He has published articles in numerous scientific and professional journals.
Professor Woo’s Guyana visit will follow a visit to the Minister of Health and the Optometry School in Trinidad and Tobago. On his departure from Guyana, he is scheduled to travel to Puerto Rico for the WCO General Delegates Meeting from April 11 to April 17.
According to its website, the WCO is an international optometric organisation representing 250,000 optometrists from 94 member organisations in 45 countries.
The WCO serves as “a unifying voice and catalyst for international projects and services that meet the needs of the optometric profession and public.” It is only optometric organisation in official relations with the World Health Organisation. Guyana became a member of the WCO in 2007.
