Havana, July 23 (RHC)-- A new manufacturing plant for bio-sensors, which measures the level of glucose in diabetes patients’ blood, was inaugurated on Tuesday, July 22nd, here in Havana. The facility is a product of Cuba’s collaboration with China, and the plant inauguration was among activities attended by visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping during his stay in the Cuban capital.

The plant, attached to the Immunoassay Center (CIE), will allow for the distribution of sensors to some 800,000 diagnosed diabetes patients in Cuba. The modern facility came as a result of a government decision to make this type of equipment available to Cuban patients, to support better management of the disease with regular measurement of glucose in the blood, by way of a simple procedure which the patient himself can perform.

Currently, only type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes patients have access to the kit, which includes a glucose meter (to perform the measurement), lancets (to puncture the skin and obtain a drop of blood to test) and reactive strips.

The sensors will be manufactured in Cuba, in cooperation with the Chinese company SINOCARE. Annual production will begin with 20 million units, although the possibility exists of reaching 100 million, according to plant manager, engineer Idalmelis Castillo.

Like other products of the Immunoassay Center designed to meet the needs of Cuba’s public health system, the bio-sensors will be available at subsidized prices at the country’s network of pharmacies, thanks to income from exports by the state enterprise BioCubaFarma, whose sales in 2013 surpassed 52 million Cuban pesos.