World Council of Optometry

Types of membership

Membership of WCO is open to organisations around the world, and comes with many benefits.

There are two categories of membership; associate and affiliate.

Associate membership

For associate membership, organisations must:

• represent optometrists in a country, or a state with national significance
• have a written constitution or governing document
• endorse the WCO Concept of Optometry
• become a member of its regional organisation within three years of gaining WCO membership.

Our associate members include the Ghana Optometric Association, the Israel Council of Optometrists and the Swedish Optometric Association.

Affiliate membership

Affiliate membership is open to individual organisations and institutions that represent special optometric interests, but do not satisfy all the conditions of associate memberships.

Our affiliate members include Vision Aid Overseas, a charity committed to creating a sustainable solution to the world’s eye care problems by providing sight tests and spectacles, setting up Vision Centres and training eye care staff in developing countries; and VOSH/International, a charity whose mission is to facilitate the provision and the sustainability of vision care worldwide for people who can neither afford nor obtain such care.

Join WCO