Yemenis lack opportunities for adequate eye care and the finances to cover medical treatment and eye surgery expenses, according to Doctor Motahar Al-Shaer, an associate professor in the Ophthalmology Department at Sana’a University.

Cataract extraction surgery presents more than 90 percent of eye diseases that exist in Yemen. Moreover, there are also blue water and optical fractures, which appear mostly frequently within youth, Al-Shaer said.

“The most successful operation that we made is cataract removal surgery,” he said.

Al-Shae’r said diabetes affects more than 20 percent of Yemenis, and the disease is considered a direct cause for imbalances of the retina, which increase day by day.

Eye disease cases are concentrated in coastal areas, especially in Tihamma. In these areas, residents live in very difficult financial conditions, which forces them to wait for free medical care provided by certain charities that work in Yemen, according to Al-Shae’r.

Ahmed Ziad, executive manager of the Health Ebsar Campaign‏، said there are plans to provide free tents for medical eye care in Taiz, Aden and Hodeidah after Eid, and the tents will be staffed by the Noor Al-Aeyoon Center.

“We will target children to avoid the deterioration in their medical eye cases,” he said.

Ziad said specialists in eye surgeries participate in these tents, and the specialists are willing to adopt some cases to follow up on later at their private offices.

Ali Hommad Al-Fadli, an elderly man, traveled from Bani Sa’ad, Al-Mahweet, for a retina surgery on his right eye at the Noor Al-Aeyoon Center after they took case from the free medical tents in Al-Mahweet.

“Three years ago, I had a retina surgery in my left eye, and I see well now, but I also need to do it in my right eye,” he said.

Abdul-Wali Salah, from Bani Al-Harith district in Sana’a, said he is still following up on his son’s case in his district, but the cataract extraction surgery that his son needs will be performed in Sana’a.

“My son has atrophy in his brain, and he is in need of a cataract extraction surgery for both his eyes,” he said.

Al-Shaer said the free medical tents are available in different governorates throughout the country. They are sponsored by charities and focus on eliminating visual disabilities and sending difficult cases to the Noor Al-Aeyoon Center in Sana’a.

Al-Shaer said there is collaboration between the districts in the education offices and the medical tents to follow children’s cases.

“Every two months, we do the medical tents in different governorates, and in each tent we do about 120 surgeries,” Al-Shaer said.