Cuba Will Continue Prioritizing Care for People with Chronic Kidney Disease

The political will of the Cuban Revolution to prioritize care for patients affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), along with the development of the nephrology specialty—which found its primary promoter in Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz—was reaffirmed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

According to studies, one in ten people in Cuba faces this disease, a trend consistent with global patterns, where approximately 850 million individuals suffer from it. This was revealed during the Head of State's regular meeting with health experts and scientists.

The exchange focused on the work of the Institute of Nephrology (INEF), a research center with a long tradition of scientific development and innovative culture, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary on December 1.

Electric Vehicles for Hemodialysis Amid Energy Siege

As demonstration of the priority the country gives to patients suffering from chronic kidney disease, the Cuban President emphasized that in current difficult circumstances—facing the energy siege imposed by the U.S. government and the lack of fuel—one of the first solutions for the National Health System was allocating electric vehicles to transport patients to hemodialysis services.

The meeting was attended, among other authorities, by Deputy Prime Minister Eduardo Martínez Díaz and Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal Miranda, who led a dialogue recognizing the work of an institution founded at the Joaquín Albarrán Hospital by Doctors Abelardo Buch López, Charles Magrans Buch, and Reinaldo Mañalich Comas, under the direction of then-Minister of Public Health and Rebel Army Commander José Ramón Machado Ventura.

A National Network Caring for Over 3,800 Patients

Dr. Yamilé García Villar, general director of the Dr. Abelardo Buch López Institute of Nephrology, a national reference center for the specialty, recalled that Cuba has a National Network comprising 450 polyclinics and doctor's offices; for this purpose, there are 348 active nephrology specialists and 246 residents, over 1,600 nurses, and more than 600 technicians.

In the country today, 3,856 patients suffering from chronic kidney disease receive care; 2,876 are on hemodialysis treatment—22 in pediatric services—and 900 are renal transplant recipients.

Among the main healthcare services provided by INEF, Dr. García Villar highlighted hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, endourological surgery, and kidney transplants, which have benefited more than 6,000 Cuban men and women throughout the history of the institute.

36 Ongoing Research Studies and the Dialysis Project

The Institute of Nephrology maintains 36 ongoing research studies and is a leader in the sectoral-level Dialysis Project; additionally, it conducts a dozen doctoral and master's degree programs along with various teaching initiatives, all aligned with the center's research lines.

Regarding the Dialysis Project, an initiative at an advanced stage of development, the general director of INEF explained that its objective is manufacturing a reuse machine, a hemodialysis machine, and dialyzers.

It is a device that will contribute decisively to the dialysis program, which is extremely costly and consumes a significant portion of the nation's public health budget despite serving a small number of patients, commented Dr. García Villar.

Clinical Trials and Collaboration with BioCubaFarma

The Institute of Nephrology is also a protagonist, alongside BioCubaFarma scientific centers, in several clinical trials, such as evaluating a vaccine candidate in patients with chronic renal failure, among other developments in Cuban science over the past five years.

INEF, considered the alma mater of Cuban nephrology, is working to establish a new paradigm aimed at early identification of risks associated with chronic kidney disease, a high-impact condition that often goes untreated because patients die from other related causes, such as cardiovascular disease.

This was explained by Dr. Raúl Herrera Valdés, a national and international scientific authority in the specialty, who warned that in Cuba more than 700,000 people likely suffer from CKD, with only 25,000 officially registered under care.

Herrera Valdés emphasized that CKD is a disease with an enormous social, economic, and human impact that evolves throughout life and proves fatal for many; hence—he stressed—the importance of early prognosis and preventing its progression, noting for example that one-fourth of people with hypertension progress toward CKD.

Contribution of BioCubaFarma

Regarding early prognosis and disease progression, renowned nephrologist Dr. Jorge Pérez-Oliva Díaz, president of the Cuban Society of Nephrology, highlighted BioCubaFarma's contribution to CKD treatment through the development of key products.

Without BioCubaFarma—he affirmed—we could not have scaled up hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments. The scientist also underscored the contribution of the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in preventing chronic kidney disease, as well as the production of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin by the Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM).

Dr. Guillermo Guerra, head of the National Group of Nephrology, analyzed the importance of realizing the clinical, epidemiological, and social paradigm required for the prevention and treatment of CKD, an area where work must continue for the benefit of the people, he stated.