What is Operación Milagro?
“Operation Miracle” is a sight restoration program for the estimated six million people in the Latin American and Caribbean region with reversible blindness or vision loss who are too poor to pay for the surgery. Under this program, begun in mid-2004, Cuban specialists had operated on 317,489 patients from 27 countries (including 69,000 Cubans) by July, 2006, and that figure climbed to over half a million by the first quarter of 2007. The program provides for Cuban ophthalmologists posted abroad to perform active screenings of patients for cataracts and other reversible vision loss conditions. Once identified, these patients are flown to Cuba accompanied by a family member, for the surgery and immediate recovery period; the Cuban government assumes all expenses. More recently, ophthalmology centers have been opened in Mali, Ecuador, and Bolivia, with support from those governments and the ALBA accords in the case of Ecuador and Bolivia (see FAQ above).
