Managua, Nicaragua.- The number of Nicaraguans benefiting from Operation Miracle in the first half of the current year surpassed the number operated on in the same period of 2018 by 14percent, a report from the Ministry of Health (Minsa) stressed on Thursday.

In the first six months of 2019, physicians performed 7,255 surgeries to treat different visual conditions, while in the same period last year, 6,138 interventions were performed.

The difference is due in part to the fact that from April to July 2018, the country suffered a wave of violence associated with an attempted coup d’etat, characterized, among other elements, by the erection of barricades on public roads to prevent the free movement of vehicles and people, even for health reasons.

According to the Minsa balance sheet, at the end of last year, a total of 13,300 Nicaraguans had recovered their vision as a result of Operation Miracle, and by the end of 2019, it is expected that a greater number of people will have benefitted, based on the 15,000 planned surgeries and other treatments.

Operation Miracle was devised and fostered by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, for the treatment of curable ophthalmic diseases for poor people and to support countries or regions without the necessary infrastructure or specialized personnel.