Cuban Minister of Public Health, Jose Angel Portal.

Havana, Jul 21 (RHC)-- Cuba's Public Health Minister José Ángel Portal reported Thursday that the country is implementing a strategy to control non-communicable diseases (NCDs), emphasizing prevention and reduction of risk factors.

During the 9th ordinary session of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), he said that the initiative's implementation began this year due to better control of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The strategy takes advantage of the potential of the island's health system based on the Family Doctor and Nurse Program. It incorporates tools from behavioral medicine, the perspective of health economics, and the toolkit of the Hearts initiative of PAHO, the Pan American Health Organization.

Portal explained that due to this purpose, an organizational model aimed at the clinical management of complex chronic patients and medical assistance with innovative research from the national biotechnological and pharmaceutical industry would be applied in hospitals.

The program presented to Cuban parliamentarians proposes reducing the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy diets; reducing physical inactivity, and promoting preventive clinical care for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and the prevention and treatment of cancer.

It also envisions preventing traffic accidents, strengthening community mental health services and their preventive orientation in close connection with the Family Doctor and Nurse Program.

The head of Public Health pointed out that the Health Councils and the Movement of Municipalities, Cities, and Communities for Health, which allow developing actions at the local level to improve community health, will be enhanced as essential management mechanisms.

Portal emphasized that the strategy for preventing and controlling NCDs proposes a more comprehensive approach beyond the use of medicines or improving hospital infrastructure because it conceives prevention as a fundamental aspect.

According to Public Health authorities, in Cuba,  on average, 197 people die from non-communicable diseases daily. Like in other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic forced its health system to focus mainly on handling the virus, putting on hold strategies designed to counter NCDs. Hence the importance of returning to their implementation said the Cuban Minister of Public Health.