For the first time, this new development opens up the no cost online learning resources to non-English speaking communities keen to progress in eye care education. There are more than 350 million native Spanish speakers, and Portuguese and French speakers are listed as 175 million and 75 million respectively.
Professor Brien Holden, CEO of Brien Holden Vision Institute spoke on the Institute’s global strategy, “This a landmark development for eye care services globally. We can now reach a vast new audience by offering free education resources in the languages desperately needed to help train a greater amount of eye care professionals. The Africa region has a population of over one billion and many people speaking either Portuguese or French will greatly benefit, as will Latin America who also have a large population who speak predominately Spanish and or Portuguese.”
The shortfall of educators and teaching material has made eye care education more complicated in the developing world, and has not only affected the quality of education received but also impacted the amount of students graduating and their capacity to meet the vast public health challenges.
