Cuba is one of the nations that has most struggled against blindness in the world with which it has demonstrated that Fidel Castro was right when he conceived the idea about acquiring the necessary technology as well as training ophthalmologists for that noble goal.

The ophthalmology of the Cuban health system is considered among the most advanced all over the world and its high scientific and technological level is backed by its human staff that is made up of hundred of doctors graduated in the aforementioned specialty.

Doctor Gilberto Fernández Vázquez, who works as a second degree -specialist in Ophthalmology, assistant professor and researcher of the Ramón Pando Ferrer Cuban Ophthalmology Institute (ICO), is a proof of the abovementioned fact.

Doctor, how does the new surgical technique applied by you run to extract the cataract?

The technique locally named as the Facoemulsion technique constitutes the most widely used one for the cataract extraction which consist in fracturing the crystalline lens into little of pieces and make them to emulsion.

The ultrasonic energy and its aspiration through an incision, which usually has a 3, 2 millimeters measure or even a smaller one, finishes with the implantation of an intraocular lens without the necessity to suture the wound.

Is this technique only used at the Pando Ferrer Ophthalmological Center?

No, the fact is that there have been courses and degrees given for ophthalmologists since long time ago not only in the capital but also nationwide in which those specialists have the chance to apply their acquired knowledge in the different hospitals where they work.

Which has been your contribution to this technique?

In my work as a micro-surgeon ophthalmologist, I discovered a technique that I named as Chopping Inverso which has its foundation in the fracture of the crystalline lens through the usage of reverse movements that are usually applied in a standard Facoemulsion surgery.

For its development, I designed a chopper or sharp tool that differs from others used in others surgeries.

In your opinion, which are this technique´s advantages?

Through this personal way of carrying out the surgery, I achieve to fragment the crystalline lens in at least four parts and only a minimum usage of ultrasonic energy that facilitates the emulsion process of the cataract.

In my technique, I achieve through the usage of reverse movements a fragmentation of the crystalline lens before beginning its emulsion process, thus, reducing the surgical time as well as the ultrasonic one which makes the process less complicated for the patient.

You have been in very poor places of Latin America as part of the Operacíón Milagro (Operation Miracle free-eye surgery program) where an eye surgery, in those nations, is highly expensive. Could you value the human reward?

I was founder of the Operación Milagro program in Cuba and later in Bolivia. I have also participated in scientific events in different nations such as Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong and the United States, recently.

It has always been a great pleasure for me having helped people to recover their sights. That working experience was like using a thermometer or meter given that I could measure the real and solid advance of the Cuban medicine as well as its prestige worldwide.

Doctor Gilberto Fernández Vázquez treasures many satisfactions in his work; however, he also has, like any expert, his frustrations.

In the first place, I deeply regret that I did not begin earlier this specialty of ophthalmology as I would have really wanted.

After I finished my degree in ophthalmology, I concluded my social service in Guantánamo province for two years, then I became specialist in General Medicine and I finally achieved to begin studying the specialty of ophthalmology of which I had always felt a deep interest about.

Nevertheless, my greatest satisfaction is my daily work with which I have had the possibility of helping patients, who visit my office, to recover their vision as well as to listen to some of their praises like, for instance, thank you, doctor, I am able to see again!

If you wanted, you could contact Dr. Gilberto Fernández Vázquez through his email: gilbert.fdez@infomed.sld.cu By Mariela Smith