More than One Million People Benefit from Free Eye Surgery Program

HAVANA, Cuba. From July 2004 to date, more than 1.6 million people from 33 countries have benefited from the Mission Miracle free eye surgery program, founded by leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro.

At the opening ceremony of the Sixth International Conference of Ophthalmology in Havana, doctor Marcelino Río, president of the Cuban Ophthalmological Association, noted that Mission Miracle, headed by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela, has 59 hospitals in 15 nations.

He highlighted the importance of Mission Miracle and Cuban medical cooperation, which currently cover 33 countries, at a time when there are 37 million blind people and 135 million visually impaired the world over.

In the presence of José Miyar Barrueco, minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, Dr. Río explained that in Cuba there are 24 ophthalmologic centers equipped with state-of-the-art technology and qualified personnel to provide a service of excellence.

(Beneficiadas un millón 600 mil personas con Misión Milagro)