Cuba: response of medical science to a crisis of optic and peripheral neuropathy.

We made two trips to Cuba, as part of an invited international delegation, to investigate an epidemic of optic neuropathy-induced blindness. We worked closely with Cuban scientists and clinicians in their efforts to understand and then deal with 50,000 cases of blindness and an entire population at risk. This gave an unparalleled opportunity to understand the Cuban system of ophthalmologic health care and, in particular, to appreciate the responses of the scientific and health care communities to this crisis. Several features of the very different Cuban medical and scientific infrastructure were both problematic and advantageous as they affected the Cuban efforts to understand, contain and treat this remarkable epidemic.