Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This MEDICC Review roundtable brings you specialists from Havana’s Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK), who are working directly with testing, research and patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Founded in 1937 by its namesake, the Institute has gained considerable worldwide prestige. Today, it is a PAHO–WHO Collaborating Center for the Study of Dengue and Its Vector, and for the Elimination of Tuberculosis. Its main role within Cuba’s health system is as the national reference center for prevention, control, management and elimination of infectious diseases, including epidemics. Its 479 workers staff 32 departments, including laboratories, research and teaching facilities, a hospital and isolation center. The IPK's hospital treats later-stage AIDS patients, while the Institute is the national reference center for attention to all HIV-positive patients and maintains the national HIV/AIDS registry, as well as registries for other infectious diseases. The institution was responsible for training the Cuban doctors who served in West Africa during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreaks and for those going abroad to assist in the COVID-19 response today, and its professionals offer an internationally-recognized biennial course on dengue.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This MEDICC Review roundtable gathers some of Cuba’s top researchers in the fields of vaccines and biotechnology, all of whom work in institutions belonging to BioCubaFarma, the umbrella company of Cuban biotech and pharmaceutical R&D, production, distribution and export. Founded in 2012, the company is comprised of 34 enterprises with 61 lines of production and some 20,000 employees. A total of 765 of its products are registered in 53 countries and exported to another 50. Its scientists’ research has resulted in 2640 patents in Cuba and globally.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Dr Durán is a native of eastern Santiago de Cuba and his early medical career began in this mountainous region, where he also headed provincial prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. He went on to become rector of the Medical University of Santiago de Cuba and provincial health director. Later in Havana, Dr Durán was director of medical education and vice minister at the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). Abroad, he served as advisor to Angola’s Minister of Health, and on his return, as deputy director of Cuba’s Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK). Dr Durán has been “battle-tested” over the years by his involvement in stemming dengue epidemics and other infectious disease outbreaks, good preparation for his current position as National Director of Epidemiology. Today, his is the voice and the face on the 11:00 AM briefing carried daily by Cuban television, reporting the latest data on the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic globally, in the Americas and in Cuba. This MEDICC Review interview took place on April 10, 2020, a month after the first three COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in Cuba (March 11, 2020).