Almost half a million patients from 28 countries have already felt the benefits of Operation Miracle, which has returned or preserved their sight as a result of free operations to low-income people.

A report from the Ministry of Public Health at the recent Parliamentary Hearing to discuss the progress of agreements signed under the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA) revealed that up to last Wednesday, a total of 485,476 patients had been operated on, including more than 290,000 Venezuelans.

These statistics were presented by Elia Rosa Lemus, an official at the ministry.

Operation Miracle, created by Cuba and supported by Venezuela, has now become an immense campaign of social and humanitarian worth.

At the beginning, the operations were carried out in Cuban hospitals, but with the aim of extending the benefits to the largest number of people possible, and medical units for the same purpose have been constructed in other countries, always with advice and assistance from Cuba.

In this way, today in Venezuela, there are currently 13 new ophthalmological centers with 28 operating theaters in that country, and other similar facilities have been offering the same services in Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Bolivia.

It is interesting to note that one in every 87 Venezuelans has now been seen. Also one in every 213 Bolivians and one in every 60 inhabitants in Antigua and Barbuda.

The character of solidarity within the public health sphere of ALBA can also be seen in the existence of numerous mobile dental units in poor areas of Venezuela, as part of the Barrio Adentro program, with the participation of Cuban specialists.

A total of 31,000 young people from this South American country are studying medicine in 8,000 primary care centers across the same areas where thousands of Cuban doctors, together with other Venezuelans, are attending the population.

This is revolutionizing this kind of medical training, using modern methods of transferring knowledge in the same places where services are being offered, said Lemus.

Finally, she recalled that students from 12 countries are studying medicine in Cuban facilities, also free of charge, under the conception of ALBA, which signifies cooperation, solidarity and the fight for integration. (S.E.)