U.S. to boost bedside manner in Latin America

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The United States is stepping up its Latin American “medical diplomacy” in a bid to counteract the influence of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, whose free medical care to the poor in Central and South American have won them ardent supporters.

The U.S. doubled its operations in Panama this year, and on June 15 sent the USNS Comfort, a military hospital ship, on a 12-nation tour. So far, the ship’s medical staff has seen 55,465 patients in Belize, Guatemala, Panama and Nicaragua. It will soon call on ports in Colombia, Haiti, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

The ship’s medical staff has performed 274 surgeries and 9,102 dental procedures, dispensed 24,129 orders for pharmaceuticals, and given out 5,304 pairs of eyeglasses, according to the U.S. Military’s Southern Command.

Posted by Chris Kraul in Bogota