Photo taken from Bohemia magazine

By María Josefina Arce 

Cuban science has given Cuba multiple satisfactions.  The work of these men and women has made it possible over the decades to provide solutions to various problems of great interest for the socioeconomic advancement of the nation and the welfare of the population.

Decisive has been the hard work developed by our scientists before the arrival of COVID-19, which has enabled an effective response to the disease caused by the new coronavirus and the constant search for alternatives to a more complex scenario.

A commitment and essential support to the country's efforts to protect the health of citizens, highlighted by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who in a meeting with members of the Academy of Sciences emphasized that we will have to be eternally grateful to Cuban science.

Scientists of the archipelago have excelled in the development of research and in the conformation and application of protocols to face the pandemic, which in constant meetings with the highest leadership of the nation have been updated according to the epidemiological situation.

A milestone of our science is to count today with three vaccines against COVID-19, of high safety and efficacy, in spite of the limitations imposed by the American blockade, which has been intensified even in the midst of a world sanitary emergency.

Thanks to that dedication and high level of preparation, at present almost ninety percent of the Cuban population has received at least one dose of our immunogens. Cuba was also the first country in the world to initiate a massive vaccination campaign for children from 2 to 11 years of age, which is progressing satisfactorily.

It has also made possible the development and application of pharmaceutical industry products such as immunomodulatory, antiviral and preventive drugs to stimulate immunity.

This is the case, to cite just one example, of Biomodulin-T. From the first months of the pandemic, its use became widespread throughout the country and it was one of the first drugs to be incorporated into the National Action Protocol for COVID-19, backed by extensive experience of use in elderly people with recurrent respiratory infections.

The initiative of researchers in the different branches of knowledge also led to the creation of pulmonary ventilators and diagnosticians with the ultranalytic system platform.

And we cannot forget the social sciences that have played an important role in promoting individual and collective responsibility in the midst of the health emergency and in the gradual return to normality.

The Cuban president described as greatness, national pride and deserved respect and admiration the work developed by Cuban science, which has always been in the front line not only in the difficult situation generated by COVID-19, but every time the country has needed it and also in every moment of our daily life.