http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/march/juev12/milagro.html
Havana. March 12, 2009
Operation Miracle unstoppable throughout the world
Juan Diego Nusa Peñalver
HAVANA, March 11. - More than 1.5 million people from 35 countries,
including Cuba, have benefited from Operation Miracle, a free ophthalmologic
rehabilitation program sponsored by the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.
Of this figure, more than 1.331 million are foreign patients, of whom
266,743 underwent surgery in ophthalmological centers in Cuba, according to
CubaCoopera, the Minister of Foreign Affairs website, reported.
The remainder of these complex operations have been performed in 60
ophthalmological centers, with 91 surgery posts, donated by Cuba to Venezuela,
Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Paraguay,
Uruguay, Mali, and Angola.
Likewise, Peru, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname
are benefiting from centers of this type.
According to estimates by the World Health Organization, more than 37
million people in the world are blind due to preventable causes, more than 1.5
million of whom are children under the age of 16.
The prevalence of blindness varies in relation to countries' levels of
economic development because, while the incidence rate of this disease in
developed nations is only 0.25%, in states with poor economies and health
services it rises to 1% of the population.
In the so called Third World, the principal causes of blindness are
cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, infectious diseases - like trachoma
and oncocercosis - and Vitamin A deficiency.
Other ophthalmological conditions like pterygium, ptosis and strabismus
also have a high incidence in infant and adult populations.
The Cuban and Venezuelan presidents, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, agreed
to develop this program of cooperation on July 5, 2004. (AIN
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