SLP, Mexico – The US humanitarian organization Operation Walk traveled to Cuba to perform around 70 free surgeries on Cuban patients suffering from arthritis or other bone and joint conditions. The surgical procedures took place since November 7 at the “Fructuoso Rodríguez” Teaching Orthopedic Hospital in Havana and continued until November 13.
This time, 64 members of Operation Walk traveled to the Cuban capital, the highest number in the organization’s 25 visits to the island, as highlighted by the official press.
Amid the critical healthcare crisis facing the island, around 70 people are receiving knee and hip prostheses.
“Hip and knee replacements are very complex surgeries that require skilled medical talent. They help people who need them to live free from pain and disability, and even return to work and feel socially useful,” said Roberto Balmaseda, the hospital’s director. However, he did not mention how many such operations are currently performed in Cuba or how many specialists the hospital has for these procedures.
For its part, the organization wrote on social media on November 12: “It’s been a challenge, from hurricanes to flight delays to power outages. No matter the obstacle, we overcame them one by one to restore mobility to patients who have been waiting two years for our return.”
According to the Cuban Ministry of Health, philanthropists Jill Baffert and Barbara Jordan provided the medical equipment for the surgeries, donating hip kits and IV poles for the procedures.
On the official MINSAP website, when the surgeries were announced, some Cubans questioned the selection process for patients, as they were unaware of how it was carried out.
One of the Cubans who left a comment mentioned being registered at the Fructuoso Rodríguez hospital for a total hip replacement. However, he claimed he was unaware of the selection process for patients to be operated on through Operation Walk.
“I don’t even know if I’m still on that list after almost two years. If I remember correctly, I think I was number 229 on the ranking of that list,” he wrote.
The group of US volunteer doctors has been performing joint replacement surgeries in Cuba since 1997, while also “training” the island’s doctors.
“Today, we returned to Cuba. 28 years of shared history between OpWalk and the medical community in Havana. To put it simply, we came back home,” emphasized the organization’s co-directors, Paul Gilbert and William Long.
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