Cuban biotech -- threat or lesson? Anne Sunderland
Monday, May 20, 2002 ACCUSATIONS that Cuba is developing bio-warfare agents and supporting the same activities in rogue states have yet to be confirmed or disproven. The following facts, however, are true: -- The Cuban biotech industry has produced original vaccines against meningitis B and hepatitis B and exports a variety of medicines and diagnostics to more than 35 countries. -- The industry has thrived, despite the near economic collapse brought on by the cessation of Soviet foreign aid in the early 1990s and the 40-year U.S trade embargo, and, -- It has become an integral part of a free public health system that is the envy of Latin America and most emerging nations. Recognizing these accomplishments, the World Health Organization held an international conference in Havana in March on biotechnology and health in the developing world. How and why has an otherwise impoverished nation made such strides? The answer may be as simple as political will. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has made biotechnology and health care a national priority since coming to power in 1959. Castro invested $1 billion in a cluster of biotech institutes during the 1990s, despite critical shortages in Cuba of the most basic materials and goods. (At the time, the streets of Havana were filled with bicycles because there was no gasoline.) The state-subsidized biotech facilities have become a crucial arm of the free national health system. The public health needs of the country dictate what products are researched and developed. For example, the Cuban meningitis B vaccine was produced following a local epidemic in the 1970s. Overseas sales of products bring in much needed revenue (estimated at $150 million annually), but Cuban officials insist that national health -- not profits -- is the No. 1 priority. Extensive immunization programs combined with other health-care initiatives have paid off. While it is true that Cubans suffer in Third World living conditions, they enjoy First World infant mortality and life expectancy rates. The emphasis on medicine has resulted in Cuba having the highest ratio of doctors per capita in the world. However, Cuba is no utopia. Doctors make roughly $20 to $40 a month (a salary set and maintained by the state). Cuba was in the international headlines in 2000 when two Cuban doctors on a medical mission in Zimbabwe tried to defect and were promptly arrested. Still, the Cuban government's program of exporting doctors throughout Latin America and Africa stands out as a unique gesture of solidarity within the developing world. In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, thousands of Ukrainian children were sent to Cuba for free medical treatment. Certainly Cuba, like any country, has its own moral dilemmas and contradictions. Hopefully, former President Jimmy Carter's visit shows how U.S. -Cuban relations could be based on an open exchange of ideas and information rather than rumors and accusations. We can learn an invaluable lesson from Cuba. The United States has the most sophisticated medical and biotechnological resources and facilities in the world, yet millions of Americans miss out on the benefits because they lack affordable health care. More than 10 million people die annually of infectious diseases in the developing world. Yet only 1 percent of new products brought to market between 1975 and 1997 by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries was for tropical diseases. With political will and vision, we too should be able to apply advances in biotechnology and medical science toward the creation of a healthier society for all -- rich and poor, regardless of nationality. Anne Sunderland writes about health care and biotechnology from San Francisco. In March, she attended the World Health Organization's international conference on biotechnology and health in Havana as a representative of the Institute for Global Health at -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
