27th June 2016
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The third and final team of Doctors that are performing surgeries for the continuation of Miracle Mission eye care programme in Antigua and Barbuda is now on island to wrap up the string of surgeries that have been taking place for the past weeks.
Venezuelan Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda Carlos Perez said over the past two weeks some 194 surgeries have been conducted and this team which arrived here over the weekend is expected to complete about 100 surgeries.
"So I believe we are going to close this phase with close to three hundred successful surgeries", Ambassador Perez confirmed.
The team continued the eye surgeries yesterday (Sun) and they will be here for the rest of the week.
Ambassador Perez said to date, the collaboration between the Venezuelan medical team and the local team has been running smoothly.
"As I said before, the cooperation between our team and the team from the hospital, the people from the Ministry of Health and Antiguans and Barbudans in general has been excellent; everything has been running smoothly and the patients so far have been very happy, they are very thankful especially to the Doctors so we are very pleased to provide this humanitarian cooperation in Antigua and Barbuda", Ambassador Perez stated.
The majority of the surgeries that are being done are to treat cataract with Pterigium procedures being done in small quantities.
Ambassador Perez said that in about a month a half, a small group of doctors will return here to conduct post operatory checks with the patients to ensure that they are doing well.
All surgical interventions will conclude on Thursday, post operatory checks will take place on Friday and the team leaves this weekend.
He said Venezuela is open for further areas of cooperation if the government here sees the need to explore other areas of humanitarian assistance.
'With Antigua and Barbuda we have the programs of cooperation established in the framework of Petrocaribe and also in the framework of the ALBA; we also have an important participation in the refinery of West Indies Oil Company. We also must remember that mission miracle is a bilateral agreement that we have with Antigua and Barbuda so the cooperation in this field is open and continuous and if the government of Antigua and Barbuda wishes to explore other pathologies we are willing to have discussion about doing something beyond cataract and Pterigium, so the cooperation is ongoing", Ambassador Perez noted.
Head of the medical team Ophthalmologist Dr. Neil Ramirez said they are looking forward to successfully completing all the surgeries this week.
He said all the surgeries that have been done in the other countries like Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have also been successful.
For More Information Contact:
Debbie Francis
Communication Officer
Tel: (268) 464-8026
