Cuba’s lessons and scientific challenges during the pandemic highlighted

The first issue published in 2022 contained articles such as “What can science achieve during pandemics?” and “Dynamics of human potential in the science, technology and innovation (STI) system in Cuba”.

Rolando Perez Rodriguez and Ileana Morales Suarez, director of science and innovation at BioCubaFarma and director of science and technological innovation at the Ministry of Public Health, respectively, are the authors of the old survey, which proposes five theses to summarize Cuba’s experiences during the Covid -19 pandemic.

With a developing economy, the results of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic are a consequence, to a large extent, of the investments made in biotechnology over the last quarter of the last century and in a high-powered public health system. accessibility level. and the cover, they revealed.

The repositioning of products registered or in clinical development for other diseases has allowed the introduction of new drugs in the Single Action Protocol against Covid-19 with a portfolio of 28 drugs and supplies, including drugs, vaccines and diagnostic kits, among others.

To date, 19 products have been authorized for emergency use by the Cuban Center for State Control of Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED), the publication notes.

The authors cited as lessons the understanding of the management of science and innovation in health emergencies as a learning process and its impact beyond disease control.

This latest work, by Maria Luisa Zamora Rodriguez, from the Directorate of Scientific and Technological Potential of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), summarizes the changes in the sector supported by programmatic documents of the State. and the Cuban government.

She illustrated how, in the nine approved policies, the key objectives are to promote the growth of scientific and technological potential, the connection with the economic base, the increase of the impact and the integration of all actors in the system. , among others.

Likewise, she recommended strengthening public policies to increase investments in science, technology and innovation, and including in statistics those classified in the lower categories, technologists and university professors, in particular. more to diversify sources of funding.

jg / jha / nmr