Cuban science against COVID-19 takes the spotlight in Sao Paulo Forum

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 25 (ACN) Cuban science against COVID-19 and the struggle of the Caribbean nation's health system against the limitations imposed by the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade were the protagonists of the virtual meeting "Cuba for Life", organized by the Sao Paulo Forum.

This was stated during his speech by Dr. José Angel Portal Miranda, Cuban Minister of Public Health, who pointed out that the US government deliberately deprived the Cuban people of pulmonary ventilators, health personal protection equipment, means of diagnosis and other supplies necessary for the management of the epidemic.

These U.S. restrictions are in addition to many others that for years have prevented the country from acquiring equipment and supplies for the treatment of complex diseases that affect even children, and which on many occasions compromise their lives at a very early age, said the Cuban Health Minister.

Portal Miranda explained that it has not been possible to buy pulmonary ventilators for the treatment of patients with the most severe forms of COVID-19 either, since the companies that used to sell them to Cuba were acquired by a U.S. company and, consequently, have been forced to suspend all commercial relations with the Caribbean country.

In spite of the tightening of the siege imposed on Cuba, Portal Miranda pointed out that the country has managed to produce five anti-COVID-19 vaccine candidates already approved, two of them in Phase III Clinical Trials and the other three in Phase I and II, indistinctly.
He referred in detail to the actions carried out, in various sectors, by Cuba since the beginning of the pandemic, all integrated in the National Plan for the prevention and control of the new coronavirus.

"The efforts developed from the health field to preserve life have demanded interdisciplinary, community and inter-sectorial actions; at the same time, they have required great organization and resources", he highlighted.

He also highlighted as essential the help provided by 57 Cuban medical brigades of the Henry Reeve contingent, which have supported the fight against the disease in 40 countries.

The meeting was also attended by political parties members of the Sao Paulo Forum, solidarity, social and popular movements, as well as the Network of Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity.

Also present from the Cuban side were the president of BioCubaFarma, PhD Eduardo Martínez Díaz, who spoke about biotechnological development and vaccine production in Cuba; the general director of the Finlay Institute of Vaccines, Dr.C. Vicente Vérez Bencomo, who spoke about the Soberana 01 and Soberana 02 vaccines.
In addition, the member of the Political Bureau of the Party and director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Dr. Marta Ayala Avila, spoke about the Mambisa and Abdala vaccines.

The meeting was broadcast live in Spanish on the YouTube channel of the Young Communist League (UJC), and in Portuguese, French and English on the channels of the Workers' Party of Brazil (PT), the Secretariat of the Forum and the International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle channel, respectively, and the Facebook page of the UJC broadcast it in the four languages mentioned above.