As one of the Government projections approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power to correct distortions and boost the economy in 2024, this May 3, an update of the prices of Natural and Traditional Medicine products begins in Cuba.
This is what the Minister of Finance and Prices Vladimir Regueiro Ale reported at a Press Conference, detailing the relevance of a fundamental program in the country, key to contributing to the quality of life of the population. «Precisely within the guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution and in the Development Strategy until 2030 of our society, it is planned to promote, resume and consolidate Natural and Traditional Medicine, making it much more effective, with greater reach and impact.
For this reason, he asserted, it is a necessity today to update the prices of 17 types of formulations produced locally, to impact the sustainability of this Cuban program.
He added that, in this sense, there is a network both at the territorial and industry level, with an important assortment, which requires mobilizing all financial and technical resources, as one of the objectives perceived with the measure of change in value and in order to cover, with these updated prices, the costs and expenses incurred to acquire all raw materials and the technological support of production.
«Analyzing the prices currently established for Natural and Traditional Medicine, he declared, these range in cents and even pesos, that is, they are practically symbolic, which makes it almost unsustainable to maintain these conditions, when one of the most expensive elements is precisely the plant mass that is used, as well as other imported components. Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale.
As the minister explained, the new price caps are recognized in regulations issued by his organization, namely Resolution 21 and 22, which updates both the power to certify these wholesale and retail prices, as well as certain rules for their approval.
«In both, the decentralization of the formation of these prices for the national industry and for local governments is ratified, through regulations of Governors and Mayors and limits are established in the approval of the same, depending on the management of the territories, with a definition of limits or maximum prices, established in Resolution 22 and that cannot be violated or increased, but adjusted. Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale
He emphasized that the integrality of these projections is given by subsidizing people and not products and by the impact on the reduction of the fiscal deficit, since it reduces State expenses and affects the dynamization of this industry and its productivity.
“A specific subsidy is maintained aimed at the population that requires special protection, insisted the Minister of Finance and Prices,” while stating that for those cases identified through Social Assistance, treatment is guaranteed in prices at said products, thereby adding, in the nation, from the national budget, a figure greater than 370 million pesos for patients in vulnerable situations.
“The conditions are created for those who need differentiated treatment by Social Assistance to continue receiving it in this sense,” he said.
For his part, the Cuban Vice Minister of Public Health, Dr. Reinol Delfín García Moreiro, when addressing the implementation of the price update of Natural and Traditional Medicine, one of the Government’s projections to correct distortions and boost the economy in 2024, summarized that in their sector they have worked with responsibility and sensitivity when organizing the strategies and relevant documents.
In his words, he mentioned the high demand and acceptance of these products throughout the country, and the tradition in families towards their use based on their benefits and benefits, backed by a scientific foundation and a theoretical foundation of health professionals trained by the Revolution.
In figures, he provided that the previous year, 96 million units of the different types of formulations of Natural and Traditional Medicine were produced in the provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, 5.9 million more than in 2022. “These are marketed in the more than 2 thousand Cuban pharmacies in a complementary way to the basic list of medications, coming from 77 local production centers and industry. With this measure also aimed at increasing offers, we increase the presence of these significant lines in health institutions,” he summarized in his presentation to the press.
When referring to the mechanisms of care for patients in vulnerable situations that require such products, he alleged that “there are all the guarantees for their monitoring and in this the Ministry of Labor and Social Security plays a fundamental role together with the Public Health organization.” , through the social workers and doctors of the offices, as those in charge of carrying out the procedures with the people who are subsidized or who need to acquire it on time.
(Taken from the Portal of the Ministry of Public Health)
