In 2012, Cuban health care continued to achieve successes, despite the US blockade and the global economic crisis. Infant mortality was 4.6 per 1,000 live births, almost equal to that of the UK (4.56 per 1,000) and superior to that of the US (6 per 1,000) despite Cuba spending $431 per capita on health compared to $3,480 in Britain and $8,362 in the US (2010 statistics, World Health Organisation). It is also far superior to other Caribbean countries or other nations with similar GDPs.
Other important successes came in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. In FRFI 210 (http://tinyurl.com/a5x7v5p), we explained that Cuba’s state-owned biotechnology industry has been able to provide 80% of the medicines consumed in Cuba and has made astounding advances year after year. In 2012, there were important breakthroughs by the Cuban biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in the fight against cancer through the development of therapeutic vaccines. It is predicted that worldwide cancer rates will double between 2002 and 2020 with 60% of cases in underdeveloped countries. Out of the 25 top causes of death in Cuba, ten are different forms of cancer, with lung cancer being the fourth leading cause of death.
On 31 December, it was announced by Ana Maria Vazquez, a researcher at Cuba’s Centre for Molecular Immunology (CIM), that CIM has patented a second vaccine to deal with lung cancer using the Racotumomab (1E10) antibody to fight against the proteins that cause uncontrolled cell proliferation and that can improve overall survival rates by between 30% and 50%. This comes after the success of the CimaVax-EGF vaccine, which again works using a similar method and has demonstrated success in combating lung cancer, the second most common type of cancer in Cuba. Both of these vaccines are the product of 25 years of research and a state-owned biotechnology industry geared to the needs of the people.
Other areas of improvement in the fight against cancer have included the development of Vidatox 30 CH, a natural drug made from the venom of the Cuban scorpion Rhopalurus junceus. Patients taking the drug have shown considerable improvements in their mental and emotional conditions, with decreased swelling and pain and an increased appetite amongst patients in the advanced stages of cancer of the breast, lung, colon, prostate, and cervix. Also, in August 2012, the National Immunoassay Centre declared the development and registration of a new method for detecting colonic cancer. With 2,281 deaths in 2011 due to colonic cancer and early detection being key for proper treatment and survival, this advance again offers a vital new area for improvement of cancer services in Cuba and around the world.
These advances in Cuba stand in stark contrast to the state of cancer treatment in other Caribbean countries and underdeveloped nations, where the plunder of wealth by imperialist banks prevents the development of proper health care facilities and where lack of capital and domination by foreign capital prevents the creation of local pharmaceutical industries to break the monopoly of expensive imported drugs. Also, in comparison to British and US pharmaceutical companies that seek profit above all else, the motivation for the development of cancer treatment drugs and vaccines in Cuba is to fulfil the needs of the Cuban people, rather than to enrich a tiny elite.
Victoria Smith
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 231 February-March 2013
