US embassy cable - 05PARAMARIBO723

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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