Cuban scientist Agustín Lage denounced here today at the forum "Inclusive Human Development and Equitable Access to Health Products" the obstacle that the U.S. blockade represents for the island's biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.
Speaking on the second day of the high-level event of the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean, the advisor to the BioCubaFarma Presidency considered that the economic, commercial and financial siege imposed by Washington more than six decades ago is a serious challenge for a key industry in human health.
In this regard, he pointed out that the BioCubaFarma group, made up of more than 30 state-owned companies and 20,000 workers, is responsible for supplying 62 percent of the basic list of medicines in Cuba, in addition to exporting products to 41 countries.
This blockade was even reinforced in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, warned the renowned scientist, former director of the Center for Molecular Immunology in Havana.
According to Lage, despite the aggressiveness of the recrudescent U.S. policy, the Antillean nation has managed to insert itself with its biotechnological-pharmaceutical development in the world, contributing with equitable access to health products.
In this regard, he mentioned that the island exports to more than 40 countries, has some 700 registrations in 53 countries, carries out clinical trials in several nations, including Europe, has joint ventures in Germany, China, Spain, Singapore and Thailand, and has transferred technology to Brazil, China, Spain, India and Thailand.
For Lage, due to the contribution of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to the human right to health, collaboration should predominate in the scientific and industrial spheres.
At yesterday's forum between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, he proposed joint projects based on this vision that would allow both sides of the Atlantic to face current challenges, such as the battle against cancer, and future ones, particularly chronic diseases of the central nervous system.