SLP, Mexico.- The American humanitarian organization Operation Walk traveled to Cuba to perform about 70 surgeries free to Cuban patients who suffer from arthritis or other bone and joint conditions.
The interventions Surgical procedures have been carried out since November 7 at the “Fructuoso Rodríguez” Teaching Orthopedic Hospital in Havana, and will last until the 13th.
On this occasion, 64 of the members of Operation Walkthe highest number of its 25 visits to Cuba, according to the press official
In the midst of the critical health situation that the Island is going through, some 70 people receive knee and hip prostheses.
“Hip and knee replacements are very complex surgeries that require qualified medical talent, they help people who require them to be free from a life of pain and disability, and even return to work and feel socially useful,” said Roberto Balmaseda, director of the hospital, without alluding to how many operations of this type are currently carried out in Cuba or how many specialists they have in the hospital for it.
For its part, the organization wrote this Tuesday on social networks: “It has been a challenge, from hurricanes to flight delays, to power outages. No matter the obstacle, together we eliminate them one by one to restore the mobility of patients who had been waiting for our return for two years.”
According to the Cuban Ministry of Health, philanthropists Jill Baffert and Barbara Jordan provided the medical equipment for the operations. They donated the hip kits and IV poles for the surgeries.
On the official website of the MINSAPwhen announcing the operations, some Cubans wondered about the way to select the patients since they did not have knowledge of the procedure.
One of the Cubans who left his comment indicated that he was registered at the Fructuoso Rodríguez hospital for a total hip operation. However, as he alleged, he did not know the method of selecting patients to undergo surgery with the Operation Walk.
“I don’t even know if I’ve been on that list for almost two years now. If I remember correctly, I think I have number 229 on the ranking of said list,” he wrote.
The group of volunteer doctors from the United States has been performing joint replacement surgeries in Cuba since 1997, while “training” the island’s doctors.
“Today we returned to Cuba. 28 years of history are shared between OpWalk and the medical community in Havana. To put it simply, we came home.” they emphasized the co-directors of the American organization, Paul Gilbert and William Long.
