February 12, 2004
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NSU Inaugurates The Unesco Associated Center For North American Region
Health Professions Division Faculty Member Named Coordinator Of International Program
FORT LAUDERDALE , FL - Dr. Janet Leasher, an assistant professor of optometry at Nova Southeastern University 's (NSU) College of Optometry, has been named Coordinator of the United Nations Education Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) Associated Center at NSU.
According to Dr. Leasher, who is also the Director of Community Outreach for the College of Optometry , NSU has been invited to host the center because it is a multidisciplinary institution with a variety of educational programs, including optometry. NSU's alliance with the UNESCO Chair of Vision and Development has broad implications in the global role of advancing human and economic development.
“We are honored for the opportunity to share our mission of community service, ” said Dr. Frederick Lippman, chancellor of NSU's Health Professions Division. “Our involvement in this program will serve as an example to the rest of our nation.”
On February 9, 2004, the North American associated center of the Chair of Visual Health and Development was officially opened in a small ceremony in the College of Optometry with guests from Spain and France . The inauguration follows the first project of the center. From February 6-8, professors from 17 optometry schools in the USA and Canada attended a training course at the Health Professions Division of NSU; each attendee was trained to teach a 20-hour course in Visual Health and Development at their universities and colleges in Canada and the U.S.
“We are extremely proud of our affiliation with UNESCO,” said Dr. David Loshin, dean of NSU's College of Optometry . “We look forward to a long and beneficial relationship with such a prestigious organization.”
For the first time in the history of the United Nations, UNESCO has developed a Chair for Vision and Development and has awarded that chair, or professorship to the University School of Optics and Optometry at Terrassa, near Barcelona , Spain in 2003. This UNESCO initiative/program in higher education and research is aimed at strengthening international cooperation in favor of developing countries. The purpose of the UNESCO Chair of Vision and Development is to conduct research and implement programs in visual health around the world. The general aim is to support visual health in developing countries in a way such that is directly related to the level of development in a country or region.
“Blindness is linked with poverty,” said Dr. Leasher. “In fact, 45 million people around the world live with blindness; however, 80 percent of vision impairment is preventable. I am thrilled to be working on this important project.”
The UNESCO program recognizes that vision is one of the first steps in the literacy process, and is essential for technological advances and their applications in development efforts. This is based on the premise that the enhancement of visual health in a region or country will contribute to improve its quality of life and its level of development. Visual health is a broad concept that not only deals with the disciplines of optics, optometry or ophthalmology, but with many other medical and social fields as well. Although the headquarters for the UNESCO Chair of Vision and Development is based in Barcelona , there will be five regional centers in Central America , South America , Eastern Europe , Africa and Asia ." After some consideration, the UNESCO Chair of Vision and Development recognized the importance of a sixth regional coordinating center in North America.
