A new manufacturing plant for biosensors, which measure the level of glucose in a diabetes patient’s blood, was inaugurated July 22. The facility is a product of Cuba’s collaboration with China, and the inauguration was included among activities scheduled for President Xi Jinping recent visit.
The plant, attached to the Immunoassay Center (CIE), will allow for the distribution of sensors to some 800,000 known diabetics in the country. The modern facility’s creation came as a result of a government decision to make this type of equipment available to patients, to support better management of the disease with regular measurement of glucose in the blood, via a simple procedure which the patient can perform personally.
Currently, only type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetics have access to the kit which includes a glucose meter (to perform the measurement), lancets (to puncture the skin and obtain a drop of blood to test) and reactive strips. The new plant will make supplying all diabetics possible, according to Niurka Carlos Pías MS, CIE director.
The sensors will be manufactured in Cuba, as a result of the transference of Cuban biotechnology in cooperation with the Chinese company SINOCARE. Annual production will begin with 20 million units, although the possibility exists of reaching 100 million, explained engineer and plant manager Idalmelis Castillo.
Like other CIE products, designed to meet the needs of Cuba’s public health system, the biosensors will be available at subsidized prices in the country’s network of pharmacies, thanks to income from exports by the state enterprise
BioCubaFarma, which in 2013 surpassed a value 52 million de pesos.
(Granma Internacional news staff)
