En este momento estás viendo Doctors from Cuba prevent blindness and restore sight in Mexico
Teresa de los Ángeles Casanova, cirujana principal de ese equipo en el Hospital Juan María de Salvatierra, de la ciudad de La Paz. Foto: PL / Teresa de los Ángeles Casanova, lead surgeon of the team at the Juan María de Salvatierra Hospital in the city of La Paz. Photo: PL

Doctors from Cuba prevent blindness and restore sight in Mexico

Cuban specialists in ophthalmology are contributing today in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur to the training of health personnel and to the recovery of vision in low-income patients.

Speaking to Prensa Latina, Teresa de los Ángeles Casanova, head surgeon of this team at the Juan María de Salvatierra Hospital in the city of La Paz, comments on the characteristics of their work and the results obtained as part of the collaboration between the two countries.

According to the member of the island’s medical brigade in this nation, the centre, considered a reference centre, receives patients with ocular trauma from all over the country, and three professionals from the largest of the Antilles attend to patients ranging from newborn children to long-lived adults.

«We carry out weekly surgical activities, including pterygium, cataract and other types of ocular diseases,» said the doctor, who highlighted that in 2023 and 2024, surgery campaigns related to the latter condition will be carried out.

Likewise, the Caribbean nation’s professionals have participated «in the process of ablation, multi-organ transplants, in turn with surgeons at the kidney and cornea level, precisely by procuring organs for patients in need,» she points out.

We have maintained very direct links with all the hospital’s services,» he says, «such as paediatrics, oncohaematology in children, precisely the interaction and follow-up of these children, as well as the gynaecology and internal medicine services» and others.

Referring to the purpose of her work in these lands, aimed at the prevention of blindness, the specialist with 33 years of experience expressed her satisfaction in affirming that they made it possible for many people to recover their sight and achieve a better quality of life.

We have many emotional stories, especially in the care of children, because we also receive infants with ocular trauma and that a child «does not have a disability or lose an eye is a highly valued value and at no cost,» she said.

In his opinion, the Mexican people are not only grateful for the health care that Cuban specialists can offer, but also for the sensitivity and humanism, as well as the respect for the profession with which they act, «a characteristic recognised throughout the world».

«We are not only doctors; we are psychologists, we are social workers who can to some extent develop or educate these people who at some point have had a general lack of knowledge about their illnesses,» he said.

As well as caring for the sick, the team of ophthalmologists from Cuba at the Juan María de Salvatierra Hospital has also conducted workshops on organ donation, specifically cornea donation, and has worked on training residents to develop a bank of these membranes.

Since 2022, with their arrival here, they have also collaborated in activities linked to prevention and health education for patients with diabetes mellitus, in a context marked by a high incidence of this condition in Baja California Sur.

For Casanova, who has previous experience in Yemen, Jamaica and Ecuador, Mexico has been very important due to the integration achieved, and learning about the protocols, service organisation and clinical practice guidelines established in the North American country.

Far from her homeland, the doctor misses her loved ones, but compensates for these absences with the pride of giving the citizens of this nation the possibility of observing «life with a beam of colours» and thus responding to the trust placed in her.

A few days ago, President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged the performance of the island’s specialists in Mexico, who currently number more than three thousand, and assured that she would continue to recruit them and those from other countries.

Referring to visits to health centres during her tours of the country, she mentioned that she has seen Cuban doctors working in the most remote places «with conviction, work and integration with all the health staff, which is very important for the population».

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