Cuba resumes some production lines of medicines

With the arrival in Cuba of some quantities of financed supplies, and other efforts, drugs in high demand by the population are now in production, confirmed Rita Maria Garcia, director of Operations and Technology of the Biocubafarma Business Group.

According to Granma newspaper, the director of that entity, which is responsible for 61 % of the country's basic drug supply, said that it is still not possible to satisfy all the needs, since the supply situation of drugs, both locally produced and imported, continues to be very complex.

As regards injectables for hospital use in patients under intensive care, Garcia specified that production lines of vital drugs such as Aminophylline, Labetalol, Fenoterol and Morphine of 10 and 20 milligrams (mg) are currently being reestablished.

The injectable plants for hospital use, she explained, were paralyzed for about four months, due to the lack of ampoules, plungers or caps, due to the shortage of glass at international level.

Regarding the medicines distributed through the control cards, which are vital for the health of the population and of which BioCubaFarma is responsible for ensuring 63 for the National Health System, the director of Operations and Technology of that Business Group acknowledged that it has not been possible to guarantee them in a stable manner, and a considerable impact is expected for the time being.

She added that there is raw material in the country to guarantee the manufacture of Hydrochlorothiazide at least until August, while actions are being taken for the continuity of the raw material, before the available supply runs out.

The directive also announced the resumption of production of other controlled products, which were missing, such as Nifedipine (antihypertensive), Warfarin (anticoagulant) and Clonazepam (anxiolytic), as well as Glibenclamide and Metformin, the latter for a small coverage, since in this case it is not a question of financing, but of the availability of an excipient which is part of the formulation of this product, which is what is difficult at international level.

In relation to cytostatics, medicines for oncological use that are very sensitive for the population, Garcia indicated that at the moment there is an important deficit of them.

As regards antibiotics, she pointed out that the industry recently received the supplies that will allow delivering, in a stable manner, for three or four months, Cephalexin in its two presentations (capsules and suspension), Cefixime in three presentations, and for Ciprofloxacin, the existing raw material covers only two months, while we are waiting for the arrival of the continuity, because it is a financed raw material that has not been shipped by the supplier due to lack of availability.

The expert stressed that the complex drug supply situation in Cuba is derived from the difficult economic-financial situation the country is going through, in which the hostility of US Government towards Cuba has a high incidence, in addition to the international shortage of raw materials and packaging materials for the production of medicines.