In a report published on the site Scidev.net, a city-based specialized in bringing science to development through news and analysis, the authors highlight how this strategy of vaccination with safe and effective immunogens could face situations of this type in environments with resource-poor, low-income countries, and in the developing world.

At the same time, they demand the reduction of the barriers that block global access to biotechnological innovations from that country.

Last June, the team of US researchers, together with colleagues from Africa and the Caribbean, made an official visit to Cuba, the first high-level visit in five years, to exchange with colleagues from the island on the production of vaccines against covid-19 from the country.

The delegation was led by co-chair Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Along with the scientist came Cristina Rabadán-Diehl, PharmD, PhD, MPH, who for 25 years led international work at the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services, before becoming Director Westat Clinical Trials Associate.

For Osterholm, what he learned about Cuba’s extraordinary work with the covid-19 vaccine made it clear that it can be an important actor in increasing global access to life-saving advances.

He considered that although the policies are complex, “they must face the barriers that prevent their impressive group of scientists and public health experts from doing it.”

The report further explains that the purpose of the fact-finding mission was threefold: first, to learn how and why a small country of some 11 million people, and facing considerable economic hardship, had developed, manufactured, and deployed its own vaccines, It was shown to be more than 95% effective in preventing disease, severity, and death.

Second, understand the launch of the vaccine in Cuba, strategy and preliminary results and third, explore Cuba’s approach to science in the context of public health.

The vaccine development effort and the immunization model could reveal opportunities to reduce global inequalities in access to vaccines and other health innovations, the scientists insist in their study.

They also highlight that the delegation was aware of predictions that the world is dangerously close to the next pandemic, with cross-zoonotic infections, which already account for 75% of emerging infectious diseases, on the rise amid climate change.

They were also alarmed by the unequal access to vaccines that has prolonged the pandemic so far, and how it highlights a broader failure in the current surge in biomedical innovation to reach billions of people in low- and low-middle-income countries.

The visit to Havana was organized by Medicc (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba), a US-based non-profit organization that promotes health-related dialogue and collaboration.

Since 1997, Medicc has facilitated exchanges between Cuban and US health professionals, academics, policymakers, foundations, students, and leaders of medically underserved communities.

(With information from PL)

In severe cases of degenerative aortic stenosis—or what is the same, the narrowing of the valve in the large blood vessel that originates from the heart (aorta) and does not allow the valve to open completely, which reduces blood supply and makes it much harder for the heart to function—the option is to operate for the purpose of repairing or replacing the valve.

The heart of patients with this condition can weaken and cause chest pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath; and also, stop beating.

Dr. Leonardo López Ferrero, interventional cardiologist and head of the ICCC’s Cardiology and Hemodynamics service, knows this. He is in charge of the team of specialists who this Monday implanted the first minimal access percutaneous aortic valve in Cuba.

The procedure, novel in the country and performed on two patients, places Cuban interventional cardiology in a valuable line of development for the treatment and quality of life of people with this condition, and who cannot be beneficiaries of conventional surgery.

Why is it a beneficial procedure?

According to the specialized literature, degenerative aortic stenosis has an estimated prevalence of between 4% and 7% in the population over 65 years of age. Around 30% of cases do not undergo surgery, due to contraindications to surgical treatment and associated comorbidities. Meanwhile, the global mortality of patients with this condition is 50% to 60%, between the first two and three years after diagnosis, if no intervention is performed.

Through two femoral arteries and a radial artery, the entire minimally invasive procedure is performed, Dr. López Ferrero highlighted.

“Greater advantages for the patient’s recovery, a less aggressive approach, a shorter hospital stay and the possibility of returning more quickly to family and work life, are some of the benefits it offers,” he said.

The interventional cardiologist explained that the two valves that were implanted today are percutaneous, that is, they are transported in a catheter to the aortic valve, a catheter is taken to the narrow aortic valve and the new valve (from bovine pericardium) that is assembled over a stent replaces the patient without the need for open surgery.

For López Ferrero, introducing this new technique in interventional cardiology in the country has a great impact: “In Cuba, more than 30% of our population is already over 75 years old and this is a disease that appears in advanced ages of life,” he specified.

The donation of the devices by the European company Iberhospitex S.A. and coming from India, allowed this very expensive intervention to be carried out, the specialist pointed out.

“These valves are priced at around 20,000 euros and, if you add the necessary equipment and consumables, the cost can rise to 60,000 euros,” he said.

According to the expert, the placement of these devices is the first step for the gradual start of a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) program, for which the ICCC is committed, although the institution has For many years, he has operated patients of this type and performed surgical replacement of the valve, by conventional approach.

It would benefit people who meet the established criteria (electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, angiographic and tomographic established and who have cardiac surgery contraindicated due to the high risk it entails).

Dr. Carmen Rosa Martínez Fernández, director of the Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, stressed to the press that the medical act goes beyond performing a procedure, since it is part of a practical training workshop that follows the continuous training received by cardiologists center interventionists, and that can be extended to professionals from the rest of the country.

A multidisciplinary team made up of cardiologists from the Institute and the William Soler Cardiocenter, cardiovascular surgeons, sonographers, imaging specialists, anesthesiology specialists and nursing staff, were present at the intervention, which was accompanied by the Spanish doctor Ignacio Amat Santos, head of Hemodynamics and Interventional Cardiology at the University Clinical Hospital of Valladolid.

Martínez Fernández pointed out that Dr. López, head of the institute’s Cardiology and Hemodynamics service, has been trained in Barcelona hospitals on several occasions to perform this procedure. The presence here of Spanish teachers today is also part of a continuous process of training and collaboration.

“The Cuban population is aging and there is a degeneration of the aortic valve as a result of this demographic phenomenon,” said the specialist who insisted on the advantages of the patient’s quality of life.

“Relatives and patients have given informed consent for this to be done with a high degree of gratitude, convinced that it is a developmental step for the better,” she added.

This is also the opinion of Professor Pedro Nodal, head of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Surgical Unit of the ICCC and Dr. Luis Leonel Martínez Clavel, anesthesiologist in charge of the new procedure.

“This is the first time we are going to do it here. We chose general anesthesia as a protocol because it is the safest way for the patient and also for us to be able to provide that security. Despite the fact that other techniques are performed in the world, even with local anesthesia and sedation, we cannot run before crawling”, explains Martínez Clavel.

Professor Nodal ratifies it, all the support in surgery, anesthesiology, perfusionists in charge of operating the extracorporeal circulation machine is guaranteed to assume any eventuality.

The Spanish doctor Ignacio Amat Santos, head of Hemodynamics and Interventional Cardiology at the University Clinical Hospital of Valladolid, expresses his satisfaction “for carrying out, together with my colleagues from the Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, the first minimally invasive aortic prosthesis implant interventions, without the need to open patients, only aided by a small catheter”, he said.

He explained that these valves were developed in the early 2000s. “Some patients had complications from such a major procedure as opening the chest to change a heart valve. So an attempt was made to develop something less aggressive, that the patient tolerated better, that they could go home earlier, that they would recover faster. And the implantation of a valve inside a stent was developed that folds and is inserted through a very fine tube from the groin to the heart, and then inside the diseased valve and correct its malfunction, ”he pointed out.

Amat Santos pointed out that, although the initial experiences were complex, enough experience has already been acquired to generalize its use little by little in the population “and we are working on developing this technique in Havana.”

In Spain, he said, between 4,000 and 5,000 procedures are performed annually in various hospitals. Some countries like Germany or the United States have carried out many interventions of this type and already number in the hundreds of thousands.

But, he added, it was only two years ago that research showed that in patients at low risk for open surgery that option was better. “This means that we have to try to generalize it to all patients who need an intervention of this type in the heart,” he pointed out.

On the socialization of science and medical advances, the Spanish expert believed that it is fundamental, while the entire learning curve that has taken place over the last two decades, since this therapy began with the first patients, is shared. the most complex.

Added to this is the importance of professionals being trained and specialized, “because technology is essential but skill is something that must be learned,” he said, and highlighted the link that has been established with Cuba in this regard.

“I am convinced that the center will soon be performing these interventions almost routinely,” said the specialist.

The first step has already been taken, and two Cubans —one from Havana and the other from Mayabeque— are now evolving stable and satisfactorily, with the hope of returning to a full life a little closer.

(By: Lisandra Farinas Acosta/Cubadebate)

Participating in the closing ceremony of the event -which began on October 17- was Jorge Luis Broche Lorenzo, member of the Secretariat and head of the Department of Attention to the Social Sector of the Central Committee of the Party; the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic Inés María Chapman Waugh; the Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal Miranda; ministers and deputy ministers from other nations; directors of the MINSAP; representatives of international organizations and organizations and several of the delegates who participated in the event.

During the report, Dr. Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Innovation of the MINSAP, made reference to the fairs that were part of Cuba-Health 2022: the Health for All Trade Fair, the Third Fair of Scientific Editorials and the First Fair of Medical Tourism and Wellness.

“Cuba-Salud 2022 had more than 3,000 face-to-face participants. Of them, 947 delegates from all Cuban provinces and 452 participants from 64 countries on all continents, who were joined by exhibitors, guests and members of the logistics and scientific insurance commissions”, reported Morales Suárez.

The doctor acknowledged the participation in the event of the leadership of PAHO and the United Nations Population Fund, as well as 44 high-level delegations, which represented ministries and secretariats of health from countries around the world.

The scientific program of Cuba-Health 2022 exceeded 350 face-to-face activities, where various topics were addressed, such as the safety and quality of medical care, confronting emerging and reemerging diseases, the impact of climate change on health, the organization and operation of health systems to make them more efficient and sustainable, antimicrobial resistance, new forms of international cooperation in health, research and innovation, among other issues.

The foregoing is of special importance, if one takes into account that “Cuba-Salud 2022 was celebrated in a complex international context, where the commitment of governments to achieve the goal of health for all faces the multiple challenges posed by epidemics, conflicts and disasters of natural or technological origin”, commented Morales Suárez.

Regarding the contributions of the event, Dr. Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health and Welfare of Jamaica, pointed out that “it has shown us that it is vital to share knowledge, to increase the capacities of the world’s health systems.” In addition, he referred that these conferences have been an example of what can be done in the face of global needs.

For his part, Dr. Armindo Daniel Tiago, Minister of Health of Mozambique, recognized Cuba’s collaboration with countries around the world and congratulated the government of the largest of the Antilles for the level of organization of the event and its scientific quality. “Cuba-Salud 2022 exceeded our expectations and will contribute to strengthening our health systems and our friendly relations,” he said.

Closure of Cuba-Health 2022. Photo: Cubadebate.

The central words of the closing were given by Tania Margarita Cruz Hernández, first deputy minister of the MINSAP, who appreciated the debates held at the event on economic, legal and regulatory issues related to health; as well as the exchanges that positioned the quality of life as a fundamental determinant of social development.

“In Cuba, despite the intensification of the blockade, the media war and the impact of the epidemiological situation caused by covid-19, the activities of the health system have not stopped and the altruistic, human and ethical behavior that characterizes Cuba has prevailed. to our professionals, for which we have maintained a service based on justice, equity and professionalism, whose premise is the development of primary health care”, reflected the deputy minister and explained that the development of promotion, prevention, medical care and rehabilitation.

He also made reference to the medical missions in other countries, which continue to be a fundamental pillar of the Cuban health system, in correspondence with the principles of solidarity of the largest of the Antilles.

Cruz Hernández thanked the participation in Cuba-Health 2022 of prestigious national and international organizations that, together with the Ministry of Public Health, made the development of the convention possible; She expressed her gratitude to the foreign delegations and the attending Cuban professionals and opened the call for the fifth International Convention and the Health Exhibition Fair, which should be held in 2025.

“Let’s continue working so that health is not a privilege, but a right for all. Count on Cuba to achieve this better world that Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz always aspired to,” she concluded.

(By: Lisandra Fariñas Acosta, Yilena Héctor Rodríguez)

The event will bring together the most innovative scientific and health literature that is developed in Cuba, as well as updated research by prestigious authors, both national and foreign.

In the opening remarks of the exhibition event, Dr. Jorge González Pérez, general director of Medical Teaching of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), maintained that it is of vital importance that health professionals have the necessary tools to face the current world reality, in order to reaffirm the need to improve the health of the population as a determinant of social development.

“Information and knowledge management, the efficient use of information technologies and resources, constitute key elements, and cannot be seen in isolation, but rather as part of this process of evaluating and renewing strategies for organization and policies on health issues,” he said.

Dr. Jorge González Pérez, general director of Medical Teaching of the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap), argued that it is vitally important that health professionals have the necessary tools for their training. Photo: Cubadebate.

The Cuba-Health 2022 International Convention has, as its main purposes, to promote reflection and exchange about the current and future challenges of health at a global level, emphasizing the actions of the countries in the face of the needs that the world faces today, in aspects such as the safety and quality of medical care, emerging and re-emerging diseases, efficient and sustainable health systems, international cooperation in health, which includes medical education, as well as evaluating access and universal health coverage, Gonzalez Perez said.

He said that several scientific publishers, companies, societies and institutions linked to health participate in the Editorial Fair, which will have the opportunity to exhibit their scientific production, information resources or products that they represent, in the field of medicine and health sciences. general health.

The event, which will be held from October 17 to 21 at the Havana Convention Center, will put the challenges of public health at the center of the debate to achieve the goal of universal health in a post-pandemic scenario and the response from the health sector to the devastating ones derived from the health crisis caused by covid-19.

Under the slogan “Universal Health, as part of the 2030 Health Agenda, in a post-Covid-19 context”, the scientific forum brings together more than 2,000 participants from 65 countries, including some twenty ministers, senior sector officials and more than 50 official delegations.

The extensive scientific program will facilitate debate on relevant topics such as the impact of climate change on health, the safety and quality of medical care, emerging and re-emerging diseases, the organization and operation of health systems to be more efficient and sustainable, antimicrobial resistance, new forms of international cooperation in health, research and innovation in health, as well as medical education, among other topics.

Manuel Marrero Cruz, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and Prime Minister, José Angel Portal Miranda, Minister of Public Health, Carissa Faustina Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, among other specialists in the area were present at the meeting. .

As part of this event, three associated fairs are held: The XV Health for All Trade Fair; the 3rd Scientific Publishing Fair and the 1st Medical Tourism and Wellness Fair, which includes the 2nd Foreign Investment Forum.

In Cuba Salud 2022, an exhibition on the National Health System will also be exhibited, which will represent the areas of medical care, hygiene and teaching, science and innovation and health promotion.

According to Dr. Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Ministry of Public Health, the organization of this Convention conceives the harmonic integration of its scientific, exhibition and commercial activities. For its realization, it had the help of prestigious national and international entities and the official venues are the Convention Center of Havana, the Pabexpo fairgrounds and the University of Medical Sciences of Havana, whose precursor center, the Institute of Basic Sciences and Preclinical Victoria de Girón celebrates its sixtieth anniversary today.

“With this edition, the Cuba Salud conventions are ten years old, a decade of scientific activities aimed at dialogue and reception around global health in a period marked by complex challenges in the international arena. The four editions have focused their attention on relevant issues such as the quality and effectiveness of health systems, health for all and health coverage, universal health for sustainable development, and on this occasion they will speak in particular about health, freedom as part of the twenty thirty health agenda in the post scenario covid.

The meeting provides for a broad scientific program that will promote a debate on the current and future challenges of public health and will also delve into the opportunities gap related to health in public policies. The exchanges will include experts from 64 countries, so it is hoped that a consensus will be reached on the need to consider the improvement of the population’s health as a fundamental determinant of social development.

The scientific program has 310 activities included in 31 events and 1,611 scientific papers were approved.

(By: Lisandra Farinas Acosta)

Also present were Jorge Luis Broche Lorenzo, member of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and head of its Department of Attention to the Social Sector; Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba; Dr. José Angel Portal Miranda, Minister of Public Health of Cuba and Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization.

“Cuba is a health tourism destination endorsed by the prestige and achievements of Cuban medicine, the expertise, warmth and sensitivity of its professionals,” said the prime minister.

“The history of Cuban medicine shows achievements in rigorous, advanced and innovative work methodologies, procedures and medical protocols for human health,” said Marrero Cruz in the opening remarks of the fair, which has the presence of 118 companies from from 40 markets, 68 national companies, hotel chains and micro, medium and small companies (MSMEs).

Marrero Cruz highlighted the collaboration between the Ministries of Health and Tourism and stated that this fair is here to stay. “We have to systematize it with all the potential that Cuba represents to offer and market health tourism at an international level,” said the prime minister, who pointed out that in the midst of the complex times that the country is experiencing, the high level is satisfactory. participation in this fair.

He commented that the meeting has an extensive program of activities, where more than 150 meetings and exchanges, conferences, panels, presentations and negotiation rounds stand out.

“All the health potential, built up over more than 60 years of training and professional practice, together with scientific and biopharmaceutical development and that achieved by our tourism industry in the country, is fully articulated to provide the best service based on heal and offer the highest quality of life. Cuban public health and the experience of our professionals and the tourist locations that the country presents make a perfect combination for health tourism, aimed at raising people’s quality of life”, he said.

Marrero Cruz highlighted the importance of holding both events, both the Fair and the Convention, after having successfully overcome the covid-19 pandemic.

“There was not a moment when we did not think of Fidel, because his design of the Cuban public health system was the one that allowed us to face a totally unknown disease. Precisely that experience of the Cuban health system, which begins with primary care, which is where people’s lives are really saved, with the constant and systematic care of family doctors,” he said.

“Today great efforts are being made by the Ministry of Public Health to consolidate this primary health system. All the family doctor’s offices are being repaired, almost 12,000 throughout the country, ”he specified,

Likewise, he explained that the confrontation with covid-19 has been studied, since there are processes and protocols that were incorporated and are here to stay.

“We defend that the Cuban health system will always be public.

(By: Lisandra Fariñas Acosta e Ismael Francisco)

Along this path, this Tuesday afternoon two exchanges were held between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, with experts and scientists for health issues, and the members of the Temporary Group of I work for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and dengue.

At the center of the analyzes of both meetings was the evaluation of the behavior of the dengue and COVID-19 epidemics in the country, two aspects that do not allow carelessness in their confrontation.

Dengue in October: Maintain surveillance and vector control
October —assert the specialists— is confirmed in Cuba as a month in which the infestation rates of the Aedes aegypti mosquito tend to increase and, therefore, also the incidence of dengue among the Cuban population.

Such reflections were shared this Tuesday during President Díaz-Canel’s meeting with experts and scientists for health issues, in which Dr. Francisco Durán García, director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health, drew attention to the effects of Hurricane Ian in the epidemiological situation of the country and the importance of maintaining and intensifying vector control actions.

To the extent that the sanitation work progresses —he reflected— we will be in better conditions to contain the increase in the infestation, which is ultimately what is leading us to still have somewhat high incidence rates of suspected cases.

In support of his assessments, he commented on the experience of health intervention that is currently being carried out in the province of Mayabeque, specifically in the municipality of Batabanó, in the community of Surgidero, where the effects associated with Hurricane Ian made the epidemiological situation.

Even though there the cases with febrile syndrome that are being seen in the demand for care have not decreased, it is indisputable that the rates of infestation are improving discreetly, he considered.

Precisely in the municipality of Batabanó, dengue transmission was opened during the last week, the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Health, Tania Margarita Cruz Hernández, would explain shortly after, at the Temporary Working Group meeting for the prevention and control of COVID-19. 19 and dengue. The epidemiological control and surveillance actions implemented there have been essential to avoid a much more complex scenario.

Reporting on the behavior of the disease in the country over the course of the last week, Cruz Hernández specified that dengue transmission is maintained in the 15 provinces, as well as in 44 municipalities and 62 health areas. As a favorable element, she highlighted that the incidence rate of suspected cases decreased by 32.7% compared to the same preceding period.

The provinces with rates of suspected cases above the national average are Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Camagüey, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Mayabeque.

In this sense, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party insisted on the priority with which work must be done throughout the country in the identification of foci in order to act against the proliferation of the mosquito.

Without trusting ourselves before covid-19
September has been the best month of this year in terms of the incidence of COVID-19 in Cuba, assured Dr. Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing of the University of Havana, when sharing together to experts and scientists for health issues, the usual forecasts on the behavior of the epidemic.

The forecasts, he assessed, are quite favorable for all the provinces, and it is expected that the trend towards control will continue throughout the national territory.

The figures shared shortly after, at the meeting of the Temporary Working Group for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and dengue, by the First Vice Minister of Public Health, although they do not constitute any reason to neglect the epidemiological surveillance actions associated with the disease, show the favorable situation that is manifested throughout the country.

Let us take some examples as a basis for this certainty: at the end of the last week, ending on October 1, the diagnosis of positive cases decreased by 53.1% compared to the same previous period; there were eight weeks in which a decrease in infections was confirmed; Meanwhile, for six consecutive weeks, the death of no Cuban as a result of COVID-19 has been regretted.

Given this favorable scenario, an evident example of how much work has been done in Cuba to contain the epidemic and minimize its damage to the population, the President of the Republic insisted that we cannot trust each other, and we must continue to monitor and observe the behavior of the disease. in order to maintain the control that has been achieved over it.

Intertwine strategies to advance health goals
Precisely about the many and diverse actions that are promoted and implemented by the Ministry of Public Health to comply with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and their articulation with the 2030 National Economic and Social Development Plan in the post-COVID-19 context, he detailed also during the working day Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Ministry of Public Health.

The COVID-19 epidemic, she assured, has not been a reason to neglect these lines of work, which are of vital importance to guarantee a better quality of life for our population. When the world set goal 3, which is to “guarantee a healthy life and promote the well-being of all”, multiple strategies had already been outlined in our country to achieve it, recalled Morales Suárez.

In an inclusive manner, she detailed, we have managed to align the Sustainable Development Goals with the National Plan for Economic and Social Development and that has led us to a more comprehensive strategy for compliance.

As an unquestionable strength to advance in these purposes, he highlighted, among others, all the Health structures that exist throughout the country, such as the clinics; the Family Physician Program; the universities of Medical Sciences; almost half a million health workers; cooperation links with other organizations, and a healthcare and scientific network.

Cuba, like the rest of the countries in the world, faces great health challenges. More than six decades of Revolution have paved the way so that facing them is not a matter of one day or carrying out campaigns, but rather a supreme purpose on the road to protecting the health of its people.

(By: Yaima Puig Meneses)

The loan, signed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), is intended for a project to improve the national response capacity against diseases such as Covid-19.

The execution of the budget contemplates the reinforcement of the infrastructure for the production of injectable antibiotics, parenteral solutions (serums), generic and biosimilar drugs, diagnosticians and medical equipment, the statement detailed.

Likewise, the entity highlighted that the financing will impact the treatment of people infected with Covid-19 and other communicable diseases, as well as the acquisition of health supplies and medical protection material to prevent contagion.

The UNDP office in the Caribbean nation stressed that the strengthening of the pharmaceutical industry and the production of 200 million doses of vaccines will contribute to reaching higher levels of economic productivity.

A scenario to which the development of innovative medicines and the modernization of technology will also contribute, with a view to diversification for the benefit of the Cuban national health system and other countries in the region, the institution stressed.

The executive president of CABEI, Dante Mossi, said that the initiative constitutes a health support response to protect the lives of Cuban families by strengthening the health system.

The financial entity, the text referred, granted the loan under the specialized mechanism established by that integrationist entity for activities and operations with Cuba.

UNDP collaborates globally with a view to building resilience in the face of the multidimensional crisis resulting from the Covid 19 pandemic.

In its Cuban chapter, the United Nations institution supports the implementation of donations to strengthen the production capacities of medicines, medical supplies and food, as part of the commitments of its Cooperation Framework with this nation.

(With information from PL)

The exchange was led by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, a member of the Political Bureau.

The head of the Ministry of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, reported that there is dengue transmission in the 15 provinces and the Isle of Youth. The incidence rate of suspected cases in the past week, number 37 of the year, increased with respect to the previous one by 2.5 percent.

The infestation and disease rates continue to warn that institutional, family and business responsibility in order to reduce the outbreaks of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is key in dengue control, starting with the quality of the work of those who work in the anti-vector campaign .

In the meeting by videoconference with political and government authorities from all the country’s territories, the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández; the deputy prime ministers, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, Inés María Chapman Waugh, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruíz, Alejandro Gil Fernández and Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, as well as ministers and other authorities.

The meeting, which systematically analyzes the behavior of a group of sectors and activities directly linked to the daily life of the population, also evaluated the covid-19 epidemic, whose indicators continue to go towards a sustained decline, a sign of the control that Cuba has achieved in confronting the disease and the transmission of the virus.

The issue was also addressed at the weekly meeting of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister with experts and scientists for health issues. Doctor of Science Gerardo Guillén Nieto, director of Biomedical Research at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), presented the Cuban strategy for the dengue vaccine.

It is a path that still requires time, but that is becoming more and more viable given the strength of the wealth of knowledge and results achieved by Cuban scientists working on this initiative and which has achieved great international prestige.

It is a national project that began in 1992, at the initiative of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, and is jointly developed by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) and the CIGB.

At this week’s meeting of experts and scientists for Health issues, the usual forecasts on the behavior of the covid-19 epidemic for the days to come were also presented.

The information was explained, as is customary, by Doctor of Science Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing at the University of Havana.

He referred that the reports of the disease in the country continue to decline in all provinces and in the coming weeks control of the disease should be maintained.

The prevention and control actions of the new coronavirus were also analyzed by Dr. Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Minsap, who offered an update on the Cuban Vaccination Strategy against COVID-19.

She explained that soon the country will add the application to our population of 42 million doses of national vaccines. Cuba, she explained, continues to lead, with 400 doses per hundred inhabitants, this process worldwide.

The covid-19 is not over, said Dr. Morales Suárez; however, she noted, only 67.9 percent of the world’s population has received at least one dose; however, in low-income countries, immunization has only reached 22.5 percent of their population.

Only seven countries, including Cuba, exceed 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated; at the same time, international booster doses are no more than 31 percent, she added.

He referred that the reports of the disease in the country continue to decline in all provinces and in the coming weeks control of the disease must be maintained.
The prevention and control actions of the new coronavirus were also analyzed by Dr. Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Minsap, who offered an update on the Cuban Vaccination Strategy against COVID-19.
She explained that soon the country will add the application to our population of 42 million doses of national vaccines. Cuba, she explained, continues to lead, with 400 doses per hundred inhabitants, this process worldwide.
The covid-19 is not over, said Dr. Morales Suárez; however, she noted, only 67.9 percent of the world’s population has received at least one dose; however, in low-income countries, immunization has only reached 22.5 percent of their population.
Only seven countries, including Cuba, exceed 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated; at the same time, international booster doses are no more than 31 percent, she added.
The Director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Minsap added that in our country 1,930,357 children and adolescents are fully immunized, 98.8 percent of the people in those ages who are vaccinable; and 1,459,392 have received booster doses.
This is something – pointed out Dr. Morales Suárez – that makes us proud, that speaks of the effort and dedication of those who work in our scientific centers and the health system.

(By: Rene Tamayo)

We inform our population that today the second case of Monkeypox diagnosed in the national territory was confirmed, which is not related to the previous case.

This is a Cuban citizen, resident in the United States, 60 years old, male, who arrived in Cuba on August 26, 2022 through the José Martí international airport in Havana, from Miami, United States. During the International Sanitary Control at the border, he did not declare a health problem.

That same day he went to the residence of a relative in Havana, where he remained until August 30.

On the 28th he began with headache, fever, malaise, sore throat and later skin lesions appeared in the form of macules and papules, attending the health services on August 30, due to the persistence of symptoms. Taking into account this clinical picture, it was decided to admit him for isolation, study and treatment.

On August 31, monkeypox infection was confirmed in the patient, in a PCR study carried out at the IPK National Reference Laboratory.

The epidemiological survey, contact identification and other focus control actions established in the action protocol for these cases continue to be deepened.

Ministry of Public Health

Havana, August 31, 2022

“Year 64 of the Revolution”