ABSTRACT
One of the first achievements in the application of modern biotechnology in Cuba was the production and clinical use of interferon at the beginning of 1981. The priority given to health care has allowed Cuba to find ways to apply the major advances of modern science at different levels of medical care. The majority of Cuban scientists have been trained there, and many scientific institutes, such as the Centro Nacional de Salud Animal and the Centro de Immunoensayo, are outgrowths of National Center for Scientific Research. The center’s results have permitted the establishment of a national program in clinical neurophysiology that uses high technology to explore nervous-system functions with a view to protecting at-risk groups in the population such as older people and high-risk newborns. Geographic regions were created to provide better preventive and treatment services and to strengthen institutional ties between different levels of the medical care system.
