Intervention of Mailín Bertrán Delgado, Director of Pharmacies and Opticians at the First Global Meeting of the International Drug Legislation Network
Dear Chair, Delegates, Excellency,
We thank you for the opportunity to take the floor, highlight the importance of the meeting and congratulate UNODC for the organization.
Mr. Chairman,
Cuba has a National Health System that is free, accessible, with universal coverage, based on the Primary Health Care strategy and a broad community and intersectoral participation supported by the Constitution of the Republic, as a universal right and obligation of the State to provide it. It is a public and unique service delivery model, which integrates policies, programs and service networks for social protection; addressing the determinants of the health status of the population, with emphasis on promotion and prevention, both within the health sector and at the social level.
Substance abuse and associated behavioral disorders are a growing global problem with a social impact that involves health systems. This phenomenon, exacerbated by the current economic crisis and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, requires the adoption of new measures, the fundamental objective of which is to facilitate access to services and the availability of drugs to the population.
It is a transforming approach based on the resources of Science and Innovation and its approach in a comprehensive, integrated, multisectoral and multidisciplinary manner, with the participation of the individual and families as the fundamental pillar of society.
With special attention, the country has designed an action plan aimed at strengthening prevention in at-risk groups and people in vulnerable situations. Addressing non-communicable diseases and mental health are priorities, with actions focused on improving the quality of care and the availability of treatment alternatives and is in line with the government's pillars and the policies approved to address demographic dynamics and care for children, adolescents and young people, as well as the program for the advancement of women.
Cuba has an action plan for comprehensive care for addictions 2024-2030 whose general objective is to contribute to the reduction of drug abuse, narcotics, psychotropic drugs and substances with similar effects, as well as behavioral addictions in the Cuban population, with emphasis on children and adolescents and compliance with international agreements in this area. The following are guidelines:
Strengthen the work system with the participation of the bodies, agencies, and social organizations involved in prevention and confrontation for the control, monitoring and evaluation of the program.
Promote healthy lifestyles through health education actions, prevention in risk and vulnerable groups to foster attitudes of rejection of drug abuse in the population, which foster resilience and empowerment with emphasis on adolescents and young people.
Maintain intra and extra-sectoral training actions in a stratified manner in the country and research and innovation, taking into account new trends, addictive behaviors and other related manifestations.
Strengthen the network of available services, comprehensive and continuous care based on the dispensing process and the quality standards established in the health system.
Evaluate compliance with the provisions established for the control and monitoring of narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, substances with similar effects, chemical precursors and basic chemical substances for licit use, as well as the behavior of incident reports with priority to those related to new psychoactive substances.
Maintain updated the legal ordinance for the attention and assurance of these tasks at sectoral and country level, in what corresponds to the organism.
Mr. President:
Primary health care, with the intervention of the family doctor and nurse practitioner program, conceives active screening as a means of early detection and follow-up of persons who have had contact with addictive substances, in order to strengthen preventive work.
For specialized comprehensive care, there is a network of services consisting of 175 municipal Mental Health Departments, 18 Psychiatric Hospitals, 17 Psychiatry services in Pediatric Hospitals, 17 Psychiatry services in Clinical-Surgical Hospitals and two Adolescent Rehabilitation Centers, a modality of care that currently extends throughout the country.
It is a strength to have information systems on drug abuse statistics that allow for making the right decisions based on reliable information.
In Cuba, the Basic List of Medicines has been defined and approved, consisting of 651 medicines, 60% produced by the national industry, 59 items are classified as controlled products, eight narcotic drugs, 12 psychotropic drugs, 37 substances with similar effects and two chemical precursors.
Mr. President,
Once again Cuba ratifies its commitment as a State Party to the United Nations conventions to address the drug problem from a comprehensive approach, under the principle of Zero Tolerance, and with international cooperation and assistance, because only through this we can achieve it. All united against drugs we will win.
Thank you very much.