Caption: A woman rests in the hallway after her cataract operation, conducted at a clinic in South Sudan as part of an outreach programme. Photo @International Centre for Eye Health

Around 3000 people are suffering from cataract in Gogrial have been targeted in free eye surgeries in the area.

Eye specialists from Egypt have been carrying out the operations since Sunday.

“We have received a team of medical doctors from the Arab Republic of Egypt,”  Nyang Malueth, the state information minister, confirmed.

Mr Malueth said by Tuesday, nearly 200 were operated.

“On Sunday, we started our operation whereby we managed to operate 47 patients and then on Monday, 54 were operated making it a total of 100.”

The exercise is expected to conclude this weekend. “So we are expecting the number to go beyond 3,000,”said Mr Malueth.

“This is completely for free,” he emphasised.

A cataract is a painless clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging.