Another batch of patients is off to Cuba for treatment for eye ailments such as cataract under the Mission Miracle programme.

Some of the patients on Tuesday

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release 34 patients are expected to benefit from surgery for cataract in this the 75th group to access treatment. This trip is part of phase two of the programme.

In his address to patients assembled at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre before they left on Tuesday, Minister within the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran said Guyana and Cuba share a unique bilateral relationship which is especially evident in the health sector. Ramsaran also told the patients that the initiative is part of an overall programme to improve access to quality health care. The patients are expected to return before the Christmas holiday.

Meanwhile, Cuban medical personnel have been conducting an outreach exercise over the past months in several communities countrywide. One of the areas which received significant focus was Linden, Region Ten. During their four-day stay in the mining town 522 persons were screened. Cuban ophthalmology teams based at several health institutions including the East Bank Demerara Regional Hospital and the Suddie and Leonora diagnostic and treatment centres are also screening patients for cataract and other eye ailments.

Meanwhile, patients said they were grateful to the government for the programme. “I feel happy because I used to be stressed out and since I heard that I am going I feel happy about it and I am glad that I am getting to go and get my eyes looked after and come back by the grace of God,” Welly Martin, a blind patient said.  Another patient, Isha Doris said, “I feel honoured to be on this trip… I know that the Government has been doing a lot in the areas of health and education… after being a diabetic for several years I had serious eye problems and a friend told me that Mission Miracle is coming to Suddie and I went and they did tests on my eyes.”

GINA said the programme is expected to close for the upcoming holiday season. It will restart mid-January 2009.