Havana, Cuba, Apr 26 (acn) Cuba has increased its prevention campaign in the prevention of blindness started in 2010 due to cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, corneal clouding, refractive defect, macular degeneration due to age.
Dr. Reinaldo Rios Caso, Head of the National Ophthalmology Group told ACN, that these ailments are more frequent in the aging population currently at 19.8 percent of the inhabitants over 60 years of age on the island.
The Deputy Director of the Ramon Pando Ferrer Ophthalmology Hospital, said that in the last four years, cataract surgery has increased dramatically (first cause of curable blindness in the world, including Cuba) when the country surpassed the ideal rate proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) carrying out three thousand surgeries for every million inhabitant (33 thousand a year).
He said that in 2013 over 35 thousand surgeries of this type was carried out and in 2016, the number increased to 38 thousand constituting a historic record in the country.
In addition to exhibiting impressive statistics in cataract surgeries, only achieved by a group of developed countries, Cuba has collaborated in recent years through the Milagro (Miracle) mission aimed at fighting against blindness in over 30 countries, mainly in Central, South America and the Caribbean, said Rios Caso.
Cuban collaborators currently work in Ophthalmology Centers in 11 countries; and since its creation in 2004, over 2.8 million surgeries have been carried out among them 662 thousand cataracts, he said.
Inserted in the National Program of the Disabled and Optic Health, Cuban ophthalmology will continue to prioritize and improve cataract surgery treatment in addition to its commitment in international solidarity in the field.
Since its inauguration by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro on April 29th, 1988 to date, the Ramon Pando Ferrer Optical Micro Surgery Center is a reference in cataract surgery where over 287 thousand patients have benefited from its service, said Rios Caso.
According to the World Health Organization, WHO, some 285 thousand people live with low vision or blindness, of these 39 million are blind and 246 million have modern or severe disabilities.
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