Much can be learned from Cuba in the immunization field
• Affirms Dr. Lea Guido, PAHO representative in Cuba, at the closing event of the Americas Vaccination Week in a Havana polyclinic

BY LILLIAM RIERA —Granma International staff writer—

DR. Lea Guido, representative of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in Cuba, praised the vaccination model developed in Cuba and affirmed that the rest of the world has much to learn from the island in the area of immunization.

In an event to close the Americas Vaccination Week, celebrated in a Havana polyclinic, Dr. Guido highlighted the leadership and supporting role played by the Cuban state as a leader and support of that prevention strategy, which has worked to administer vaccinations to millions of children in Cuba and other countries of the region.

As an example of that solidarity, the PAHO representative in Cuba cited the case of Haiti, where Cuban doctors made it possible for that impoverished nation to be declared free of measles, according to XINHUA.

Two years ago, the U.S. epidemiologist Jon Kim Andrus, head of the WHO/PAHO Vaccination Unit, described the success in immunizing the Cuban population after the triumph of the Revolution as "impressive" and he recommended stimulating its scientific dissemination.

During his visit to the island leading a group of experts, Andrus thanked health professionals for the opportunity to learn from them.

The Vaccination Week promoted by the PAHO is part of a process that has been carried out for 30 years and that has permitted an increase in immunization coverage. In Cuba, the week coincided with the 45th anniversary of the campaign against Poliomyelitis, through which 524,000 children between three and nine throughout the island received the "two drops" of the oral vaccine.

According to Professor Miguel Galindo, head of the Ministry of Public Health’s National Vaccination Program, Cuba’s entire population under 60 has been immunized against poliomyelitis over the last 30 years, during which around 70 million doses have been administered.

Galindo recalled that before the triumph of the Revolution, Cubans were only immunized against tuberculosis, while currently the program that he directs, universally and free of charge, protects children against 13 diseases preventable with 10 vaccines; seven of them developed and produced on the island.

Their effectiveness has allowed Cuba to remain free of poliomyelitis (since 1962 —Cuba was the first nation of the continent to succeed in eradicating this illness), neonatal tetanus (since 1972), diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, rubella and tubercular meningitis in those under 12 months old.

In addition, last year the incidence of meningitis decreased by 25% and a reduction in the number infected by the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type B, which causes meningitis, pneumonia and otitis and leads to the death of a half million infants in the world.

Professor Galindo announced that a combination vaccine produced by Cuban scientists that protects against five illnesses (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B) is soon to be introduced into this program and that infants are to be immunized against chickenpox.

Dr. Luis Herrera, director of Havana’s Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center, recently affirmed that the pentavalent vaccine has achieved a similar level of effectiveness as that produced by the transnational firm Glaxo SmithKline, according to the results of the first phase of clinical trials in which it was administered to more than 500 children aged 6-10 in the municipalities of Santa Clara, Sagua la Grande, Ranchuelo and Placetas.