La Paz, Bolivia.-The Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) in Bolivia has decided to extend its participation in the Health Fair in the department of Tarija, where more than 10,000 people have already been assisted, Dr. Pavel Noa reported.

During a telephone interview given to Prensa Latina, the BMC national coordinator stated that the consultations were initially scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but it was decided to work until noon Monday due to the massive influx of patients.

The fair takes place in the municipality of Uriondo, where more than 60 volunteers from the Caribbean country have offerred consultations in 20 specialties, the most demanded are ophthalmology and internal medicine.

During the last two days, about 51 people were detected with cataracts and 153 with pterygium (carnosity), and they will undergo surgery at the eye center in Bermejo, reported Noa.

Bolivian doctors are also working together with the Cubans, many of them graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana and members of the ‘Mi Salud’ (My Health) health program.

Inhabitants from Uriondo, as well as Yunchara, Bermejo, Entre Rios, Padcaya and other municipalities, attended the fair, where they also offer consultations of pediatrics, gynecology, traumatology, endocrinology and gastroenterology.

The head of the brigade stressed the importance of this fair because the population, even from the most remote areas, can receive specialized consultations, carry out complementary examinations and receive their medicines.

This is the fifth fair of its kind held in Bolivia and similar ones are planned for the coming few months in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the death of the Argentine guerrilla and doctor Ernesto Che Guevara, Noa said.

The Cuban Medical Brigade has been in Bolivia since 2006, when the first collaborators arrived to assist the victims of an emergency caused by heavy rains.

Noa considers that one of the greatest impacts of the presence of the cooperating members of the Caribbean country is Operation Miracle, under which 700 thousand people were operated on here.