Resumen

ALBERRO HERNANDEZ, Maygret. Refractive surgery in Latin America:: The need for many people and the opportunity for a few of them. Rev Cubana Oftalmol [online]. 2010, vol.23, n.2, pp.423-433. ISSN 0864-2176.

A study about the factors determining the limited access of the people to the technological development of the Refractive Surgery in Latin America and the Caribbean, in spite of the high number of patients with visual limitation for not corrected ametropy. This causes discrimination or social exclusion. A document review was made on Internet on the technological advances in this subspecialty and its consequences, with the objective of analyzing the possible cause of this problem and finding out what the countries in our continent -including our own nation- can do or are doing to face it and to improve the quality of life of the Latin American population. We may conclude that this situation has a social origin, with factors that have aggravated the problem such as the health care privatization, violations in ethics and the physician-patient relationship, there are some governments that do not give priority to the health care and several health policies that do not encourage benefits for the needy people, among others. It is necessary that the Latin American countries consider the visual disability as a priority, allocate resources for its treatment and apply appropriate technologies according to their national technological capabilities and their social, economic, political and cultural context. By contrast, Cuba has proven that it is possible for science and the technology at its highest level to reach everybody, including he sisters nations of the continent through the Miracle Mission, thus solving a serious health problem having an impact on the society.

Palabras clave : Refractive surgery; social exclusion; technological development.

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