HAVANA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 5,000 patients have received stem cell treatment in Cuba since that procedure was introduced in 2004, a medical expert said Saturday.

Doctor Porfirio Hernandez, research vice director at the Hematology and Immunology Institute in Cuba, said in an official media outlet that the stem cell treatment method has been implemented in 13 of the entire 15 provinces of the island country.

As a widely acknowledged pioneer of this practice in Cuba, Hernandez indicated that more than 60 percent of patients receiving this treatment had suffered from severe ischemia at lower limbs and other blood vessel related ailments.

The therapy has also been used to reduce the sufferings of patients with severe problems in orthopedics and cardiology, Hernandez added.

Stem cells are capable of self-renewing, regenerating tissues damaged by diverse disease, traumas, and aging, and stimulating the creation of new blood vessels.