How Cuba is Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus
As Cuba sends doctors around the world to help fight coronavirus, a Cuban
antiviral drug, Interferon Alpha 2b, is helping countries like China stem the
tide of the outbreak.
by Alan Macleod
March 16th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
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While the United States government is complicating efforts to treat coronavirus
across the world and is using the pandemic to increase pressure on countries
already struggling under U.S. sanctions, including Iran, Syria, and Venezuela,
the small island of Cuba, itself a target of Washington’s ire, is leading the
fight against the spread of COVID-19.
And while the Trump administration slashes the Center for Disease Control’s
budget amid an imminent pandemic, China appears to have gotten to grips with
the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing reported only 16 new cases of the virus
today, and there are now more total cases outside mainland China than inside it.
Integral to reducing the number of deaths is a Cuban antiviral drug, Interferon
Alpha 2b. The drug, according to Cuban biotech specialist Dr. Luis Herrera
Martinez, “prevents aggravation and complications in patients, reaching that
stage that ultimately can result in death.” It has been produced in China since
2003 in a partnership with the state-owned Cuban pharmaceutical industry.
Interferons are “signaling” proteins, explains Dr. Helen Yaffe of Glasgow
University, an expert on Cuba. These proteins are produced and released by the
body in response to infections and alert nearby cells to heighten their
antiviral defenses. It is not a cure or a vaccine to COVID-19, but rather an
antiviral that boosts the human immune system.
Cuba has used it to fight outbreaks of Dengue Fever, a common occurrence on the
mosquito-plagued island. The Castro government was forced to develop a strong
pharmaceutical industry because of the constant U.S. embargo. Cuba estimates
the decades-long sanctions, continually declared illegal by the United Nations,
have cost it over $750 billion.
Today, the Cuban government offered haven to the stranded cruise ship, MS
Braemar. The ship has five confirmed COVID-19 cases on board and had been
turned away by both Barbados and the Bahamas.
Despite confirming its own first cases, the island is continuing to export
medical professionals to the rest of the world. Yesterday, Jamaican Health
Minister Christopher Tufton announced that 21 nurses from its neighbor would
arrive imminently, the first of more than 100, he hoped. But they have also
sent doctors to more advanced nations, such as Italy.
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#INPICTURES 📸 | Cuban and Chinese doctors arriving in Italy to assist the
health authorities.
Cuba has the interferon Alpha-2B, powerful in the treatment of coronavirus and
China has the experience of having overcome the peak of infections in its
territory. #COVID19
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Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye, a Ghanaian-American doctor who studied for free in Havana
and now practices in California told MintPress: “You don’t hear of Cuba’s
health contributions in the United States,” claiming that there are more Cuban
doctors in Africa than African doctors and that the Caribbean island trains
more Africans in medicine than all of Africa does. She first heard of the
possibility of scholarships for Americans while studying in Ghana. She notes
that Cuba is well placed to combat the coronavirus because of its culture of
quarantining for viruses and its experience fighting Dengue.
Despite inadequate testing, the United States has over 4,000 confirmed cases of
COVID-19. There has not been one centralized plan from the government; instead,
different authorities have enacted different laws, with varying degrees of
severity. New York City, for example, will go into lockdown tomorrow, closing
all schools, universities and non-essential stores. On the other hand, other
cities remain almost completely normalized.
Dr. Sefa-Boakye advised that stringent measures were urgently needed to fight
the virus’ spread; “Quarantining has to be the only way that we can get a hold
of transmission,” she said. “The science will tell you, you talk to any
biologist or anyone who has taken a basic science class: viruses replicate.
That is how they move. They need a host and a source. I learned that in Cuba.”
She also warned that the United States is “facing an increase in transmission
because of our lack of infrastructure.”
Dr Sylvie Briand
@SCBriand
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Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases reached over 175,000 today, with 6,717
deaths. COVID-19 has now reached a large majority of countries. Medical
professionals urge everybody to reduce their contact with other people to the
minimum necessary, regularly wash their hands with soap and water, avoid
touching their face, and cover their mouths with their elbow when they cough or
sneeze.
The World Health Organization (WHO) advised countries should check all
potential cases. “You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. We have a simple message
for all countries: test, test, test,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia. “This amazing spirit of human solidarity must become
even more infectious than the coronavirus itself. Although we may have to be
physically apart from each other for a while, we can come together in ways we
never have before…We’re all in this together. And we can only succeed
together,” he added. It is that ethos that has driven Cuba’s revolutionary
healthcare system for 60 years.
