Cuba Opens Massive New Vaccine Plant
The inauguration ceremony took place at the Finlay Institute in Havana on Latin American Medicine Day, December 3
The Havana-based biotechnology center, the Finlay Institute, inaugurated a new plant on Wednesday that is capable of producing the active component of vaccines for up to 100 million doses.
The inauguration ceremony took place on Latin American Medicine Day, December 3, and celebrated the 175th anniversary of the birth of the Cuban doctor who discovered the transmitter agent of yellow fever, Carlos J. Finlay.
“The new plant was built by many and is dedicated to the health of many,” said Finlay Institute Director Concepción Campa Huergo. “In July 2006, we received a letter from the World Health Organization (WHO) asking for our help to produce millions of vaccine doses against meningitis, which each year causes many deaths, illnesses and heartbreaks in Africa.”
Campa Huergo thanked the many construction professionals and investors, the political will of the Cuban government, and the assistance from Brazil in making the project a reality.
“We also had the support of 20 years of biotechnology experience and leaders and companies in the import sector that supported this complex process...We can now tell the WHO, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the world that Cuba has a new massive plant that can produce the active component of vaccines for up to 100 million doses.
“In the coming months we will also be offering several other health products for people, including vaccines, injectable products and monoclonals against cancer, new diagnostic systems and biosensors, and several other products and services.”
“On this day, we want to send a special congratulations to someone who has taught us and continues to teach us how to work for the poor around the world, and bring them love and health: our dear Fidel.”
WHO representative, Alejandro Costa, said that with 50,000 cases of meningitis reported each year in sub-Saharan African, they turned to international companies to look for financing for the vaccine project, but were met only with profit motivations.
PAHO representative, José Di Fagio, praised the work of Cuba in completing this health project that will benefit the unprotected.
As part of celebrations for Latin American Medicine Day, the Carlos J. Finlay Order was awarded to 10 outstanding healthcare professionals and to the Ernesto Che Guevara Cardiac Center in Santa Clara. Individual winners were: Miguel José A. Bilbao, María Bofill Cárdenas, Arnulfo Fernández Mirabal, Antonio Félix Granda Ibarra, Álvaro Luis Lagomasino, Antonio Manuel M. Guillén, Juan Perfecto Oliva González, Rolando Fermín Pellón, Santiago Puntero Carola and Francisco Javier Vázquez Roque.
Cuban Health Minister José Ramón Balaguer said that Cuban Revolution’s moral and ethical values, and its principals of equality and social justice demand the country’s support in providing healthcare to 38 countries.
“If the Granma yacht had not arrived on our coast on December 2, 1956, the freedom won with the January 1, 1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution would not have been possible, nor would this new plant, or the vaccines, or the 500,000 workers who provide healthcare to all Cubans. We congratulate the men and women working in this sector, and also the Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution,” said Balaguer.
