First 500 Cuban-made ventilators coming soon
By October, the national health system should have on hand the first ventilators built In Cuba
Orfilio Peláezjuly 16, 2020 10:07:16
By October, the national health system should have on hand the first 500 ventilators built In Cuba, reported Dr. Mitchell Valdés Sosa, director of the Cuban Neuroscience Center (CNEURO), affiliated with the BioCubaFarma enterprise group.
This figure includes 250 machines described as invasive, that is, the patient must be physically connected via intubation. These are used primarily in intensive care units to aid patients in serious and critical condition. The first lot will also include the same number of non-invasive ventilators, which do not require intubation and are used with patients in less serious condition.
According to Doctor Valdés Sosa, the first of the devices mentioned is the result of a joint effort by CNEURO specialists, the National Electro-medicine Center and the Grito de Baire enterprise affiliated with Military Industry Union, the latter responsible for development of mechanical components, while the non-invasive ventilator was produced by CNEURO in collaboration with the Molecular Immunology Center.
Dr. Valdés emphasized that construction of both models was based on open codes, made available online by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the London University College, but the software used and the industrial design are the work of Cuban experts.
He also highlighted the leading role played by the Center for State Control of Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed) in trict compliance with all regulatory requirements established for the production of such equipment.
Dr. Valdés recalled that last April the Cuban government was denied purchases of ventilators from the Swiss companies IMT Medical AG and Acutronis, after they were bought by the U.S. company Vyaire Medical Inc, which ended commercial relations with our country citing the blockade.
“This was when the country’s leadership commissioned a multi-institutional team to develop a prototype ventilator in record time, so no Cuban patient with COVID-19 would be left without such an important medical device, capable of guaranteeing assisted respiration,” he said.