Stan Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 HAVANA, Cuba, March 13 (acn) More than 1.5 million people from 35 countries, including Cuba, have benefited from Operation Miracle, a free ophthalmology 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 ophthalmology centers in Cuba, according to CubaCoopera, the Minister of Foreign Affairs website, reported. The remainder of these complex operations has been performed in 60 eye- care 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, diabetics retinopathy, infectious diseases – like trachoma and oncocercosis – and Vitamin A deficiency. Other eye 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. Translated by Granma Internacional Worldnews/Granma/ycr/11:40 Sin detenerse programa Operación Milagro en el mundo Cuban News Agency www.cubanews.ain.cu ainnews@ain.cu Quote If you receive benefit to being here please help out with expenses. https://www.paypal.me/clubadventist Administrator of a few websites like https://adventistdating.com
Stan Posted March 13, 2009 Author Posted March 13, 2009 LOL the kind of news you generally will not see ever in Western Presses. Quote If you receive benefit to being here please help out with expenses. https://www.paypal.me/clubadventist Administrator of a few websites like https://adventistdating.com
carolaa Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 Yeah, I think we're making a big mistake by not playing nice with those guys. Quote
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