29048: Potemaksonje (Article) Miracle in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

potemaksonje@yahoo.com




GRANMA
August 30, 2006

Miracle in Haiti

MARIA JULIA MAYORAL and JOSE M. CORREA (photo),
Special
Correspondents

HAITI.-The joint Cuban-Venezuelan project Operation
Miracle that
offers free corrective eye-surgery across Latin
America and the
Caribbean has come to the Haitian department of
Artibonite.

This north-western province, affected by severe
weather phenomena
over the past several years, welcomed the Cuban health
professionals
who officially opened the La Providence Eye Clinic
August 8.

Two days later in the capital of Port-Au-Prince, a
similar, albeit
much larger, medical center -La Renaissance- was also
opened. Both
facilities are completely staffed by Cuban specialists
and offer all
services free-of-charge.

Despite the usual up and downs of any new endeavour,
in the first two
weeks, 160 patients have been treated, the majority
receiving surgery
for pterigium, a disease that affects the cornea and
the conjunctive
membrane of the eyes.

Before the opening of these two facilities, fully
equipped with
state-of-the-art technology provided by Cuba, 659
Haitians were
brought to Cuba as part of Operation Miracle to
receive treatment.
Between September 2005 and July 2006 there was at
least one weekly
flight between the two Caribbean islands to transport
patients.

The new centers have eliminated the need for airplane
travel,
bringing high quality eye-care and surgical procedures
never before
seen in Haiti. With news spreading quickly, the lines
at La
Providence and La Renaissance are ever growing longer.
The patients,
of all ages, come from across Haiti, either by their
own imitative or
sent by one of the Cuban doctors working in 100 of the
138 Haitian
municipalities. Cuba has plans to expand its doctors
to all of the
islands municipalities.

Operation Miracle is currently operating in several
Caribbean and
Latin America countries thanks to the joint efforts of
the
governments of Cuba and the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela.

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

The La Providence Hospital was barely set up when
Dr.Carlos Esteban
Diaz, from the eastern Cuban province of Holguin, went
into the
operating room to start the first surgical procedures
of Operation
Miracle in Haiti.

INSIDE LA RENAISSANCE

This new Haitian facility is located near the
Port-Au-Prince
cathedral and rivals the prestigious Ramon Pando
Ferrer Institute of
Ophthalmology in Havana. The group of Cuban medical
professionals
that staff the center are distinguished by their
experience and
professionalism.

Edy Edme, one of the manager representing Haiti, said,
"All of us are
very pleased; this is something that is very good for
the people of
Haiti."
--

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