With shipping this Sunday of approximately 90 tons of active pharmaceutical ingredientsthe government of India supports the production of medicines in Cuba and thus gives a halo of hope to the island health sector.
Lacking inputs and all types of resources From primary care to the hospital system, the health sphere is one of the most depressed by the economic and political decisions of the regime, which gave an open letter to the importation of medicines from its nationals and thus stimulated an informal drug market.
Humanitarian assistance from India, which includes nine types of ingredients manufactured in that country, left this June 2 from the port of Mundra, in the western state of Gujarat and adds to the credits destined for agricultural and renewable energy projects, as well as the millions of dollars in exports made in the period 2023-2024 to Cuba, data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce.
According to the information released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Asian nation, these resources “will be used by Cuban drug manufacturers to produce essential antibiotics in the dosage form of tablets, capsules, syrups and injections.”
These drugs are “necessary for the treatment of chronic communicable diseases” and could improve the crisis of the health system in Cuba, which for years has faced shortage of essential resources and medicines.
“The assistance reaffirms India’s status as the Pharmacy of the World and underlines our commitment to the historic friendship with Cuba,” states the document signed in New Delhi.
Last year more than 200 Cuban-made medicines disappeared of the basic table due to production problems, and its presence in pharmacies and health centers still fluctuates due to the shortage of raw materials.
Despite this, BioCubaFarma maintained the export of its products to 73 countrieswhile the leaders of the regime use the US embargo and the global economic situation as justifications.
The health system, one of the so-called “conquests of the Revolution”, is going through a moment that has also been hit by the blackouts in their hospitals.
Likewise, the infrastructure of medical centers is getting worse and thousands of doctors fled the country or abandoned international missions, as they decided to leave behind the prevailing misery in what was once the “Pearl of the Caribbean.”
China and India are the pharmaceutical pantry of the planet due to their low costs and high production capacity. Around 80% of the active ingredients of drugs used in Europe and the United States are produced in those countries.
