Fidel and Finlay on Latin American Medicine Day

The Cuban people ring joyful bells on this new Latin American Medicine Day, which every December 3 punctually commemorates the birth in 1833 of the famous Cuban epidemiologist and researcher Carlos Juan Finlay, discoverer of the agent that transmits yellow fever, the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

And if those bells are ringing today, perhaps it is because only three months ago the nation was still in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, in spite of the strenuous efforts of authorities, doctors, scientists and a world of collaborators. Undoubtedly, a tense and harsh reality that brought immense pain to Cuban families.

However, they had not worked in vain since the beginning of the epidemic, in an intense, dedicated and creative way, and defying the obstacles created by the blockade and the consequent economic recession of the country.

Many "miracles" were then able to crystallize, one of them being the generalization or increase in the immunization of the population with the national vaccines Soberana 2, Abdala and Soberana plus, created one hundred percent by Cuban science.

Not much remains to be known, now, about the notorious positive changes in the fight against the virus. The people are living them on the spot, with joy and hope, while continuing to comply with the surveillance and containment of the pandemic as conceived by the health workers. The hard work and sacrifices brought these results.

In these days of recovery, redoubled efforts in vulnerable neighborhoods, opening of tourism, restart of the school year and implementation of new economic plans, the immense contribution of Cuban medicine and science is focused on something considered the first reason for pride, security and confidence of Cubans in their relentless struggle for life.

And it would seem that the presence of the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, as the driving force and creator of the projects for the education of the people and the development of science in a developing territory, always surrounded and attacked by the most powerful empire in the world, also resurfaces with a cosmic force.

Without Fidel's enormous vision and capacity to dream, the giant step of mass immunization of the Cuban population and the visible reduction of the incidence of the cruel disease would not have been possible today.

In times of greater imperial aggressions, literally unbridled, the impudent recruitment of mercenaries, many times without the greatest modesty, and the dissemination of irrationally false opinion matrices, science and Cubans all believe in what they are living and feel and analyze according to their principles, with strong historical and ideological roots.

Dr. Carlos Juan or Juan Carlos Finlay Barrés, according to biographers, is a true icon without blemish of the national science, of Latin America and the planet, of more exalted image when he himself had to face and finally triumphed the attempt of concealment of the results of his exceptional research on the part of a malicious American plot.

He was born in Camagüey and died in Havana on August 19, 1915, with an outstanding career in the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

Among his contributions, in addition to the discovery of the vector that transmits yellow fever, he made a relevant contribution to the treatment of infant tetanus and in the field of ophthalmology.

Fidel, Dr. Finlay and the Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara will be remembered, along with the tribute to outstanding and avant-garde doctors and health workers, although it could be said that on this occasion they are all of them, since they all feel they have played a leading role in an epic battle.

An epic or crusade for life that did not neglect the work of primary care and the tasks of the family doctor's offices, in polyclinics and hospitals, along with the opening of isolation care centers and new medical service rooms to provide the best coverage to the enormous demands of the pandemic.

The call to maintain control and sanitary protocols will prevail for a long time and even the population is invited to incorporate the measures into their daily lives, without causing them uneasiness. In the midst of a very favorable environment, Cuba continues marching towards new achievements. Happy Latin American Medicine Day! (By Martha Gómez Ferrals, ACN)