<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-container gmail-content-width3">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<font size="1"><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/cuba-leading-world-fight-against-coronavirus/265771/?fbclid=IwAR01f7omwCYXUjjk2aB3dtIKlbFNin1vqG_7ttl_LoQJfEzJnrMds-9QxV8#.XnD-mjeU0lc.facebook">https://www.mintpressnews.com/cuba-leading-world-fight-against-coronavirus/265771/?fbclid=IwAR01f7omwCYXUjjk2aB3dtIKlbFNin1vqG_7ttl_LoQJfEzJnrMds-9QxV8#.XnD-mjeU0lc.facebook</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">How Cuba is Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">by
Alan Macleod - March 16, 2020<br></div></div><hr><div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-line-height4 gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><span><span>W</span>hile the United States government is complicating </span><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/coronvirus-americans-taste-life-under-sanctions/265757/"><span>efforts</span></a><span> to treat coronavirus across the world and is using the pandemic to </span><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/coronvirus-americans-taste-life-under-sanctions/265757/"><span>increase pressure</span></a><span> on countries already struggling under U.S. sanctions, including </span><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/stem-spread-coronavirus-trump-lift-sanctions-iran/265677/"><span>Iran</span></a><span>, Syria, and </span><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/265749-2/265749/"><span>Venezuela</span></a><span>, the small island of Cuba, itself a target of Washington’s ire, is leading the fight against the spread of COVID-19.</span></p>
<p><span>And while the Trump administration</span><a href="https://thehill.com/policy/finance/486817-trump-budget-chief-holds-firm-on-cdc-cuts-amid-virus-outbreak" target="_blank"> <span>slashes</span></a><span>
the Center for Disease Control’s budget amid an imminent pandemic,
China appears to have gotten to grips with the coronavirus outbreak.
Beijing reported only 16 new cases of the virus today, and there are now
more total cases outside mainland China than inside it.</span></p>
<p><span>Integral to reducing the number of deaths is a Cuban antiviral drug, Interferon Alpha 2b. The drug,</span><a href="http://blog.yalebooks.com/2020/03/12/cubas-contribution-to-combating-covid-19/" target="_blank"> <span>according to</span></a><span>
Cuban biotech specialist Dr. Luis Herrera Martinez, “prevents
aggravation and complications in patients, reaching that stage that
ultimately can result in death.” It has been produced in China since
2003 in a partnership with the state-owned Cuban pharmaceutical
industry. Interferons are “signaling” proteins,</span><a href="http://blog.yalebooks.com/2020/03/12/cubas-contribution-to-combating-covid-19/" target="_blank"> <span>explains</span></a><span>
Dr. Helen Yaffe of Glasgow University, an expert on Cuba. These
proteins are produced and released by the body in response to infections
and alert nearby cells to heighten their antiviral defenses. It is not a
cure or a vaccine to COVID-19, but rather an antiviral that boosts the
human immune system.</span></p>
<p><span>Cuba has used it to fight outbreaks of Dengue Fever, a common
occurrence on the mosquito-plagued island. The Castro government was
forced to develop a strong pharmaceutical industry because of the
constant U.S. embargo. Cuba estimates the decades-long sanctions,
continually declared illegal by the United Nations, have cost it over</span><a href="http://www.cubavsbloqueo.cu/sites/default/files/InformeBloqueo2016ES.pdf" target="_blank"> <span>$750 billion</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>Today, the Cuban government </span><a href="https://twitter.com/alboradanet/status/1239614778622054400" target="_blank"><span>offered</span></a><span>
haven to the stranded cruise ship, MS Braemar. The ship has five
confirmed COVID-19 cases on board and had been turned away by both
Barbados and the Bahamas. </span></p>
<p><span>Despite confirming its own first cases, the island is continuing to export medical professionals to the rest of the world. </span><span>Yesterday, Jamaican Health Minister Christopher Tufton</span><a href="https://www.stabroeknews.com/2020/03/15/news/regional/jamaica/jamaica-importing-cuban-nurses-to-fight-covid-19/" target="_blank"> <span>announced</span></a><span>
that 21 nurses from its neighbor would arrive imminently, the first of
more than 100, he hoped. But they have also sent doctors to more
advanced nations, such as Italy.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/1238677434943365120">https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/1238677434943365120</a></p>
<p><span>Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye, a Ghanaian-American doctor who studied for free in Havana and now practices in California told </span><i><span>MintPress:</span></i><span>
“You don’t hear of Cuba’s health contributions in the United States,”
claiming that there are more Cuban doctors in Africa than African
doctors and that the Caribbean island trains more Africans in medicine
than all of Africa does. She first heard of the possibility of
scholarships for Americans while studying in Ghana. She notes that Cuba
is well placed to combat the coronavirus because of its culture of
quarantining for viruses and its experience fighting Dengue.</span></p>
<p><span>Despite inadequate testing, the United States has over 4,000
confirmed cases of COVID-19. There has not been one centralized plan
from the government; instead, different authorities have enacted
different laws, with varying degrees of severity. New York City, for
example, will go into lockdown tomorrow, closing all schools,
universities and non-essential stores. On the other hand, other cities
remain almost completely normalized.</span></p>
<p><span>Dr. Sefa-Boakye advised that stringent measures were urgently
needed to fight the virus’ spread; “Quarantining has to be the only way
that we can get a hold of transmission,” she said. “The science will
tell you, you talk to any biologist or anyone who has taken a basic
science class: viruses replicate. That is how they move. They need a
host and a source. I learned that in Cuba.” She also warned that the
United States is “facing an increase in transmission because of our lack
of infrastructure.”</span></p>
<p><span>Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases reached over 175,000
today, with 6,717 deaths. COVID-19 has now reached a large majority of
countries. Medical professionals urge everybody to reduce their contact
with other people to the minimum necessary, regularly wash their hands
with soap and water, avoid touching their face, and cover their mouths
with their elbow when they cough or sneeze. </span></p>
<p><span>The World Health Organization (WHO) advised countries should
check all potential cases. “You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. We have
a simple message for all countries: test, test, test,” said WHO
Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia. “This amazing
spirit of human solidarity must become even more infectious than the
coronavirus itself. Although we may have to be physically apart from
each other for a while, we can come together in ways we never have
before…We’re all in this together. And we can only succeed together,” he
added. It is that ethos that has driven Cuba’s revolutionary healthcare
system for 60 years.</span></p>
<p><span>Feature photo | A woman wears a mask as a precaution against
the spread of the new coronavirus at the Jose Marti International
Airport in Havana, Cuba, March 12, 2020. Ramon Espinosa | AP</span></p>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Alan MacLeod</a></strong> is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Bad-News-from-Venezuela-Twenty-years-of-fake-news-and-misreporting/Macleod/p/book/9781138489233" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting</a> and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Propaganda-in-the-Information-Age-Still-Manufacturing-Consent-1st-Edition/MacLeod/p/book/9781138366404?fbclid=IwAR2xQQWJd98C25wapG4ynmlEnGvL5wxG_mp5RwpBwtwPDxInjNZ1Oo7KD-E" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent</a>. He has also contributed to <a href="https://fair.org/author/alan-macleod/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/alan-macleod" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.salon.com/writer/alan-macleod" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Salon</a>, <a href="https://thegrayzone.com/author/alan-macleod/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Grayzone</a>, <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/author/alan-macleod" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Jacobin Magazine</a>, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/author/alan-macleod" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a> the <a href="https://ahtribune.com/author.html?id=1088" rel="noopener" target="_blank">American Herald Tribune</a> and <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/author/alan-macleod/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Canary</a>.</em></p>
</div><p><span>
<br></span></p></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>