Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme continues despite concerns

Thu Jun 1, 2006
Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme continues despite concerns

Health Minister Horace Dalley says the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme
will not be suspended despite concerns raised by local opthalmologists
about the standard of care offered by the Cubans.

According to local eye doctors, several persons have returned to the
island with serious problems.

But the Health Minister says more than 2,000 poor people have benefited
from surgical treatment and post operative care since the programme
began nine months ago.

However, the Health Minister says he has requested that a full
investigation be carried out regarding the complications reported.

In the meantime, the Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica, Gisela Garcia Rivera,
has also moved to defend her country's standard of eye care.

She says there is no need for alarm as the country has done eye
surgeries on more than 230,000 persons with less than two per cent of
those persons reporting complications.

She says Cuba remains committed to the programme and will be pursuing
plans to establish a state of the art eye care facility in Jamaica.

http://www.radiojamaica.com/news/story.php?category=2&story=25125