Recently the 8th Cuban Congress of Hematology was finished with the attendance of experts from 24 countries and Cuba, disserting about Leukemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, Hemophilia, primary immunodeficiency and transplants. In this contexts, Cuba showed its experiences because of the country investment in newest technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, among them, it should be pointed out the following:
More than 90 % of acute promyelocytic leukemia (A-PML) patients being cure, a result in the field of Hematology that was selected by the Academy of Science of Cuba for an Annual Prize.
Until an 80 % of success in the cure of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children, that is the most frequent malignant disease in Childhood.
The use of ARSENIN® -arsenic trioxide-, a Cuban made drug, for the treatment of A-PML given patients a better remission time keeping them for more than 5 years without disease events. Cuba was one of the first countries in the World introducing this treatment and a pioneer in Latin-America.
Showed results are a sign of the realized efforts done by the Cuban revolutionary Government putting public health as a priority for our social system and favoring the existing 37 Hematology and Immunology services network and specialist in 62 hospitals around the whole country and in the special municipality of the Isle of Youth. That medical attention network is organized by levels in every province, giving to the second level all medical hematological attention. For the more complex clinical conditions, a regionalized program in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Camagüey, Villa Clara, the “Hermanos Ameijeiras” Hospital, and the Institute of Hematology and Immunology offer this medical attention.
In our country, between 30 to 40 bone marrow transplant (BMT) are performed every year and haploidentical ones have been already done. In provinces like Villa Clara and Holguín, as well as in the Institute of Hematology and Immunology and the “Hermanos Ameijeiras” Hospital BMT is a reality for remitted patients.
During the last 5 years, Cuba have made a great effort to introduce advanced technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of hematological diseases. This year, a plan is to introduce real time PCR and gene-sequencing as part as the histocompatibility studies to allow the creation of the Cuban Bone Marrow Non-related Donor Registry. Additionally, an investment is going on to give new facilities for the Institute of Hematology and Immunology, including the first Cuban cord blood cell bank, for transplant and cell therapy.