CUBA AND VENEZUELA GARNER HEADLINES FOR PROVIDING

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000723

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR WHA/CAR-LLUFTIG
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV TBIO SOCI NS
SUBJECT: CUBA AND VENEZUELA GARNER HEADLINES FOR PROVIDING
FREE EYE SURGERY TO SURINAMERS

REF: PARAMARIBO 414


1. (SBU) Summary. The Governments of Cuba (GOS) and
Venezuela (GOV) are jointly funding a new medical assistance
program to Suriname that provides eye treatment and surgery
to impoverished Surinamers. The new Minister of Health
Celsius Waterberg publicly praised the project, which has
provided Cuba and Venezuela glowing headlines in recent
weeks. Minister Waterberg received a medical degree from
the Medical University of Havana, Cuba in 1989 and is
married to a Cuban national. There are currently a small
number of Cuban medical specialists in Suriname, who are
welcomed in the country. This stands in contrast to a group
of Cuban doctors who left the country five years ago under a
cloud of controversy. End Summary.


2. (SBU) For the project, dubbed Milagros, two Cuban eye
specialists, Dr. Julian Delgado Perez and Dr. Raquel
Rodriguez, are treating people daily at Suriname's military
hospital for eye ailments such as cataracts. The treatment
is free of charge. During the project's first week, the
Cuban doctors were reportedly treating 100 patients a day.
Because of long lines and waits, patients were lining up in
the wee hours of the morning to secure a spot near the front
of the queue. The treatment is taking place at the military
hospital where space is more readily available than at
civilian hospitals. A senior physician at the military
hospital told the Embassy that hospital doctors are happy to
host the Cuban doctors and are impressed with the program.
The military hospital had also hosted a group of Cuban
doctors in the late 1990's. The treatment program is
designed to last roughly one year, during which the doctors
will move around the country. The project is being
implemented in coordination with the Venezuelan Embassy.
Cuba does not have a diplomatic presence in Suriname.

3.(U) Patients with serious eye conditions requiring surgery
that is unavailable or unaffordable in Suriname are eligible
to receive the procedure in Cuba at no charge. The Cuban
doctors in Suriname first screen the patients before
recommending that they be sent onward to Cuba. The GOV is
paying for travel and lodging while the GOC absorbs
treatment costs. Out of the roughly 400 Surinamers expected
to receive free eye surgery in Cuba during the course of the
program, the first group of 22 returned on October 27.


4. (U) On October 28 the "Times of Suriname", a local
newspaper with the third largest national circulation,
featured the 22 just-returned patients in a prominent front
page story, complete with a photo of a smiling Cuban doctor
assisting an elderly Surinamer. The paper quoted one
returnee as saying, "It (the surgery) was a gift from
heaven." Another returnee said that before the surgery, his
eyes were so bad he couldn't work, but now he can once again
earn an income and support his family.


5. (U) The newspaper De Ware Tijd, which has the largest
circulation in Suriname, reported that the Cuban eye care
project first began in Venezuela, where people declared
blind returned from treatment cured. The report states that
because the project was successful in treating 50,000
people, it was expanded to 11 Caribbean countries in June

2005. The report also states that 1,500 Guyanese have
already been treated. The article ends with Minister
Waterberg praising the success of the project because of its
tremendous economic value for Suriname. Upon taking up his
position in September, Waterberg expressed strong interest
in sending Surinamers to Cuba for medical care.


6. (SBU) Since 1999 the Government of Suriname (GOS) and the
GOC have had a bilateral cooperative agreement allowing
Cuban doctors to work in Suriname and for Surinamese medical
students to receive specialist training in Cuba. While the
Ministry of Health refused to provide the Embassy with an
official number of Cuban doctors working in Suriname calling
it privileged information, other sources say that there are
approximately four to five Cuban specialists in Suriname,
including a radiologist and urologist. They work primarily
at the Academic Hospital, Suriname's largest public health
care facility, which makes requests for Cuban specialists
through the GOS.



7. (U) The specialists have received scant attention over
the last few years, mainly because they work in specialties
where Suriname has a shortage of doctors. This is in
contrast with the controversy that surrounded nine Cuban
general practitioners who arrived in Suriname in April 2000
at the invitation of then President Jules Wijdenbosch.
Wijdenbosch brought in doctors to work in Suriname's
interior without consulting with the Medical Mission, the
medical organization responsible for health care in the
interior. Because of this poor coordination and
insurmountable language and cultural barriers, the doctors
did very little work while in Suriname. Politically,
Suriname's Medical Association put pressure on the
government to move slowly in placing the Cubans because
primary care physicians did not want to compete with cost-
free care. In October 2000 the Cubans' mission came to a
gruesome end when the team left after their leader hanged
himself.


8. (U) Sending Surinamese patients to Cuba for surgery is a
new development in GOC-GOS relations, but fits in with a new
health care trend in Suriname. According to a Ministry of
Health official, in the past, Suriname patients typically
went to the Netherlands for treatment unavailable in
Suriname. This now occurs less frequently because of the
high costs associated with receiving treatment in the
Netherlands. As an alternative, the government is seeking
regional, less costly partners to treat Surinamers. For
example, the government is now sending Surinamers with
severe cardiac problems to Colombia for surgery.

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COMMENT
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9. (SBU) Venezuela and Cuba appeared to have pulled off a
public relations success with their eye treatment assistance
program, and assuming more patients return with expressions
of profound gratitude the story will likely continue to play
well. The program is the first evidence that Minister
Waterberg is serious about expanding medical ties with Cuba,
and it is to be expected that the assistance package will
grow to include treatment of other ailments, likely with
continued Venezuelan financial assistance. High profile
newspaper reports on the project appear to be due in part to
the hard work of the Venezuelan Embassy's public affairs
officer, who has been busy since her arrival in May. (See
reftel).

BARNES


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