Other inconspicuous heroes have brought 500 Cuban doctors into the country to aid in health care.

But in recent weeks, Cuban doctors diagnosed the condition in many women.

The Cuban doctors now go to Venezuela to treat eye patients.

The Cuban doctors who normally staff it are afraid to show up for work, hospital workers said.

Since the arrival of Cuban doctors, the infant mortality rate has decreased significantly.

Hundreds of Cuban doctors serve as the core of a strapped medical service.

Moreover, Cuban doctors work on much lower salaries than local doctors.

Over 1,500 Cuban doctors worked in Nicaragua and provided more than five million consultations.

The number of Cuban doctors working abroad jumped from about 5000 in 2003 to more than 25,000 in 2005.

But Cuban doctors say that the disease is beginning to affect women and children.