Doctor Enrique José Machado, head of the department that is linked to this type of surgery at the Cuban Faculty of Ophthalmology and also Second-Degree specialist, was accompanied by a multidisciplinary team (these Thursday and Friday) for inaugurating Excimer Laser Services in this center; this time 10 patients in this province underwent this kind of surgery.

Here there is a department of Corneal Refractive Surgery with Laser, and according to the information given by the head of services of Refractive Surgery at Ramón Pando Ferrer Central Institute of Ophthalmology (ICO) in Havana, this center has its own qualified and trained specialist, doctor Taimys Payán, whose main responsibility - from this moment on - is to prepare the rest of the team.

Sight patients should receive this type of treatment supervised by their ophthalmologist, in this provinces municipalities.

Even though the people expectations are many, Machado explained that the decision of what patients they operate is taken from previous studies made on the cornea.

He claimed that this method is an important advance since the former ones needed high technology equipments, which are very expensive at the World Market.

However, in Cuba, contrary to many other nations (where the cost of this kind of surgery reaches 1 000 dollars each eye) this services cost nothing.

So far, Refractive Surgery is carried out in six different places in Havana, as well as in Pinar del Río, Jagüey Grande, Manzanillo, and Camagüey (Finlays birthplace). Finlay was the first Cuban ophthalmologist who operated cataracts.

(Adelante)