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posted by CoolHand on Wednesday May 20 2015, @08:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the positive-effects-of-the-blockade dept.

The Center for American Progress reports

During the 55-year, United States-led trade embargo, the Cuban government used what little resources it had to spur innovation in preventative medicine. Now, with the newly normalized relationship between the U.S. and the small Caribbean nation, American researchers want to seize an opportunity to expand access to Cuba's medical investments.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recently visited Havana to broker a deal between between cancer researchers in his state and Cuban officials, who have created a potentially promising therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer that is headed to the United States for clinical trials.

The Cuban Ministry of Health made the vaccine, named CimaVax, available to the public in 2011 after researchers at Cuba's Center for Molecular Immunology tweaked the formula for 25 years. At a dollar per shot, the government has been able to protect Cubans against what has become the fourth-leading cause of death in the country by attacking proteins that cause cancerous tumors to grow.

CimaVax slows the growth of cancerous cells by stimulating the body's immune response and spurring the creation of antibodies that stunt the development of tumors. While the vaccine doesn't totally cure the lung cancer, it extends life expectancy by four to six months and reduces symptoms like coughing and breathlessness, as seen in clinical trials conducted in 2008.

[...]Japan and some European countries have launched trial studies of their own to explore Cimavax's potential.

[...]Since the launch of Rural Medical Service in the 1960s and the subsequent revitalization of health care networks for poor Cubans, the focus on prevention, rather than treatment, has helped the island nation keep its health care costs in check. Annual health care costs average about $300 per person--more than 20 times less than that of American patients.

TechDirt notes

Cuban scientists have come up with their own vaccines for meningitis B and hepatitis B, and monoclonal antibodies for kidney transplants. That suggests the success of the "do more with less" approach isn't just a one-off, but can be applied consistently to deliver results.

 
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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2015, @08:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2015, @08:58PM (#185716)

    are impressed with Jamaica's drugs, but that's not news.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 20 2015, @09:43PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday May 20 2015, @09:43PM (#185743) Journal

    Colorado scoffs [vice.com] at Jamaica's drugs.

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    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 4, Touché) by danomac on Thursday May 21 2015, @12:46AM

      by danomac (979) on Thursday May 21 2015, @12:46AM (#185822)
      You mean coughs, don't you?