Blind welfare association benefits from EU funding

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 – Saint Lucia is one of four islands to benefit from several training programmes that in the long run will assist the blind and visually impaired. Through European Union funding, one Saint Lucian will get the opportunity to become a fully qualified optometrist.

According to the Director of the Saint Lucia Blind Welfare Association, Anthony Avril, the programmes are being secured through the Caribbean Council for the Blind, in collaboration with Sight Savers International.

The student optometrist will be attending the School of Optometry which was launched in Guyana this month, but which will be ready for receiving students in September 2010.

They will also be training a refractionist for us as well. The project has made it possible for an ophthalmologist to be trained for Saint Lucia. It will probably be done in the Dominican Republic, or Mexico. The Caribbean Council for the Blind has been able to secure arrangements, Mr. Avril said.

“The optometry programme is a four-year programme. The ophthalmology programme targets doctors and people who are well versed in the medical field. It is a three-year intensive programme which begins in September.

Jamaica, Haiti, and Guyana, are the three other beneficiaries of the EU funded programmes, which will also make training available for hundreds of community health workers.

[ Home ] [ Up ] [Site Help]

Read our privacy guidelines.