Cuba offers eye surgery program.

"We are willing to extend the benefits of the 'Operacion Milagro' eye-surgery program to Barbados," said Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment & Economic Collaboration Orlando Requejo at the opening session of the 5th Joint Intergovernmental Commission Cuba-Barbados, reports

ACN (Dec. 10, 2007). Requejo said the program has helped about one million patients with eye problems from 31 third-world countries. The head of delegation from Barbados Charles Burnett, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, expressed the willingness of his government to broaden areas of bilateral collaboration. At present, 8 Cuban trainers provide services in Barbados, 12 youths from that sister nation are studying at Havana's Latin American School of Medicine, and 29 students from Barbados have graduated in Cuba. Cuba and Barbados have signed accords involving the development of sugar cane and by-products, and currently share experiences in agriculture, fishing, education and public health. Cuba also supplied an effective diagnosis test for the detection of malaria.