The Caribbean’s first National Ophthalmology Hospital will be commissioned by President Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday at Port Mourant, Berbice.. This will incorporate the signing of a Cuba/Guyana Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to officially bring the institution into operation.

National Ophthalmology Hospital, Port Mourant

The hospital is a result of expanded cooperation in the area of health between the Governments of Guyana and Cuba. President Bharrat Jagdeo had visited the Spanish speaking island in February 2006 when the cooperation agreement was sealed. The construction of the Diamond East Bank Regional Hospital and the Suddie, Leonora and Mahaicony diagnostic and treatment centers were also part of the agreement.

The institution will be providing an entire range of services and is expected to conduct 10,000 eye surgeries per year. It will cater for persons from neighbouring countries.

On February 9, the hospital began screening patients for various eye ailments including cataract and pterygium, and thousands of screenings were conducted since.

Specialized staff from Cuba, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, administrators and bio-medical technicians will man the facility until Guyanese medical students currently undergoing training in Cuba return.

Prior to the construction of the facility, over 40,000 Guyanese benefited from eye surgeries conducted in Cuba under the Guyana/Cuba ‘Mission Miracle’ programme.

The programme, since its inception in 2006, has touched all population points in the country as persons were able to have corrective eye surgeries.

Several pieces of medical equipment, including microscopes and lasers, were donated by the Cuban Government and were installed for conducting surgeries.

Over the years, the Government of Guyana has been providing quality and improved health care for Guyanese all over the country.