The Cuban biopharmaceutical industry has only produced 59% of the basic catalog of medicines destined for the public health system so far this year, official media reported this Saturday.
The president of the state business group BioCubaFarma, Eduardo Martínez, explained, according to the official newspaper Granma, that of the “basic list of medicines” of 627 products, “369 are currently produced”
Until April, Martínez also acknowledged, “143 medicines are missing in one or more provinces.”
Under normal conditions, the 45 companies of the BioCubaFarma group produce “996 products” to “contribute to the national market, of which 757 are supplied directly to the Public Health system.” But this figure has been cut with the pandemic.
According to Martínez, “among the main causes of drug shortages are the unavailability of raw materials and necessary materials (94%) and plant shutdowns due to breakage or maintenance (6%)”.
Martínez reiterated that behind the non-availability of supplies are often the economic sanctions of the United States against Cuba.
During the past year, there was a serious shortage of basic medicines, which affected treatments for diseases such as arthritis, as well as antihistamines, anxiolytics and antidepressants, among others.
The shortage of basic products, such as food and medicine, was one of the main economic elements in the anti-government protests of July 11, the largest in decades.
EFE
