Tokyo, December 13 (RHC)--  Cuban ambassador to Japan, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, met Thursday with the board of directors of the Japan-Cuba Integrative Medicine Society to discuss the potential of scientific-technical collaboration between the two countries on the field.

The Cuban diplomat briefed the Japanese executives on Cuba's latest advances in biotechnology, vaccination, rehabilitation system, and results in the health system by incorporating unique products developed by Cuban scientific institutions, the Cuban Foreign Ministry website reported. 

One example of the recognition of these advances was, according to the Ambassador, the clinical trials of the Cuban therapeutic vaccine against hepatitis B (NASVAC) underway in the Asian country.

 For his part, the president of the Japanese society, Dr. Ito Toshinori, said that through visits to the island and exchanges with Cuban doctors, it has been possible to verify the development of integrative medicine in Cuba. 

He added that the island represents an international reference as it has a structured government program that guarantees both the knowledge by the medical staff and the population's access to natural and traditional medicine at all levels of the health system.

Toshinori also recognized Cuba's success in developing novel vaccines, despite the severe limitations imposed by the United States blockade. In this regard, he expressed his willingness to visit the island's advanced development centers as part of the next program of his visit to BIONAT 2021, which will hold the 4th Japan-Cuba Symposium on Integrative Medicine.

Integrative Medicine (IM) is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.