Portal Miranda highlighted Cuba's strength in the link between its health system and its pharmaceutical industry.

Havana, Oct 19 (RHC) Cuba's Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda called Tuesday for the development of prepared and resilient health systems that provide answers to the sector's demands worldwide to face adversities.

"It is essential to resort to innovation in current times if we intend to make progress in the social and economic sector; COVID-19 showed how fragile health systems are if we do not act with intelligence," he said at the Havana Convention Palace during the first day of sessions of the IV International Convention 'Cuba-Health 2022'.

Presenting the keynote lecture "National Health System. Challenges in the post-COVID-19 context), the incumbent urged to work to promote health, reduce risk factors, expand vaccination schemes, boost digitalization and science, support the training of professionals and minimize inequalities.

He added that global crises reveal shortcomings and the urgency of building innovative alternatives for the benefit of the majority, and the pandemic brought with it a great boost to global scientific activity.

Portal Miranda affirmed that this meant for the world an enormous challenge that Cuba assumed under the consequences derived from the intensification of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States, more than six decades ago.

He said that its confrontation was managed through science, epidemiology, and medical assistance, which made it possible to apply innovative solutions, new knowledge, and scientific evidence based on national and international experiences.

The minister highlighted the development of five vaccine candidates, a few months after the beginning of the pandemic in Cuba, three of them became vaccines, and the vaccination strategy was implemented with a scientifically based design, which allowed directing and organizing the process on a population scale.

He also highlighted the nation's strength in the link between its health system and its pharmaceutical industry, which made it possible to occupy the first place in the world in terms of doses of vaccines applied, which has reduced the incidence of the disease and the number of deaths.

During his speech, Portal Miranda also highlighted the 120th anniversary of the Pan American Health Organization. (Source: ACN)