Havana: Cuba reiterated its willingness to collaborate with the United States on scientific and health issues for the well-being of both peoples, a necessary action today in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Prensa Latina publishes.
Beyond political differences, ‘the health systems of all countries must be supported, not undermined, and collaboration must be the order of the day,’ said scientists, health personnel, academics, and citizens of Cuba and other countries in a letter to US President Joe Biden.
The letter, available on the Internet (https://www.cienciacubana.cu/es) and signed by more than 6,500 personalities, exposes the island’s achievements in health matters and specifically in the fight against Covid-19, in response to a recent pronouncement by Biden who they call uninformed and distorting the Cuban reality.
The president described Cuba as a ‘failed state’ in his response to Covid-19, but does not mention the obstacles he faces due to the pressure of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States almost 60 years ago.
Added to this are 243 restrictions taken by former President Donald Trump, many of them approved during this time of the pandemic and still in force.
All of this limits the right of the Cuban people to acquire technologies, medical supplies and raw materials necessary for patient care.
However, despite the blockade, the scientific community of both countries has maintained goodwill exchanges and high mutual respect, say several specialists from Havana.
Dr. Agustín Lage recalled that for years at the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) a conference dedicated to cancer immunotherapy was held, and among the participants with the greatest presence were professors from the United States, ‘even though many had to travel by third parties countries?, he said.
Likewise, Dr. Tania Crombet, director of clinical research at CIM referred to the joint research between that center and the Roswell Park Institute, in the northern country, on the therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer CIMAvax-EGF.
The specialist added that Itolizumab is one of the molecules used in that country to treat autoimmune diseases such as lupus nephritis, the prevention of transplant rejection and uncontrolled bronchial asthma.
It is a molecule whose patent is Cuban and has clinical trials in the United States (?), which is a confirmation of the high interest in our science in the scientific community, stressed Dr. Crombet.
The letter to President Biden calls for lifting the blockade and reversing all measures against Cuba as the best way to help the people of this country, if they really wanted to.
