Cuba works on increasing production of veterinary medications

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 20 (ACN) The Animal Welfare Decree-Law approved in Cuba seeks to guarantee favorable living conditions for these species, which is why the Labiofam Business Group is working to ensure resources for the production of medicines for veterinary use.

Cristobal Arredondo Alfonso, deputy director of the National Center for Animal Health explained exclusively to the Cuban News Agency that Labiofam's development program is essential for the development of veterinary medicine in the country.

The situation today is complex, he stressed, because in order to secure the raw materials needed, they must be purchased in very distant markets or at high prices.

The blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba also affects this sector and limits the island's capacity to trade and find fair prices and markets, the executive added.

More than 80 % of the medicines for veterinary use produced in the country are based on imported raw materials, which is why production has been made difficult, he clarified.

However, plans are being kept and efforts are focused on completing the network of veterinary pharmacies in the country; for this year, the goal is to have one of these centers in each provincial capital.

Besides, Labiofam is carrying out a program to develop 38 products for veterinary use based on natural medicine, 16 of which should be ready by 2021; a strategy that guarantees the country's sovereignty.

The Animal Welfare Decree-Law regulates the principles, duties, rules and purposes regarding the care, health and use of animals, to guarantee their welfare, with a One Health approach in which human and animal health are interdependent and linked to the ecosystems where they coexist.

The document, approved by the Council of Ministers last February 26, implements the Animal Welfare Policy in the country and fulfills a need of the population and of experts and interested parties in the subject for regulations more in line with current times.