A pilgrim, who visited the Al-Wajih shop for eyeglasses at Jeddah International Market on Madinah Road for an instant checkup and an upgrade of her eyeglasses, revealed this new development.
Khalid Al-Wajih, the shopkeeper, told the pilgrim that his shop is not providing the service of checking vision any more. He said that the MOH has forbidden all optical shops from testing visions in the shops or providing eyeglasses without medical prescription.
Al-Wajih, who had an optometrist to check the eyesight of the shop clients for over 15 years, said he advised the pilgrim to visit an ophthalmologist or an optometrist at a hospital to get her eyes checked and revisit the shop with a prescription.
Another shopkeeper at the northern area of Jeddah said that a number of his customers are annoyed by this new decision, which he said would force them to pay SR300 to consult a doctor and then in addition pay for the glasses.
Aisha Natto, a Saudi businesswoman investing in this sector and a member of the Optical Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that this order is not new but it is being strictly implemented only now.
According to her, the Ministry of Health gives three types of authorization to optical shops: The first is selling sunglasses only, the second is selling eyeglass and sunglasses while the third is selling eyeglasses with the authorization of employing an optometrist to check on the vision of patients by a consultant at the shop.
Sami Badawood, director of the Jeddah Health Department, said that the MOH has now specified punishments for shops violating rules. These punishments range from fines to closure of shops.
According to him the shops have been using computers and technicians to check eyesight but this is not enough. “It does not replace the need to visit specialized doctors who can identify the causes of the exact vision problem and also provide remedies, one of them could be prescribing eyeglasses,” he said.
