(KPL/Prensa Latina)  The results in the health sector of this central Cuban province shows relevant achievements, including the treatment of cancer patients.      

Prensa Latina visited the chemotherapy ward of the Camilo Cienfuegos Provincial General Hospital, where the disease in non-small cells in advanced stages is treated with the Cuban vaccine CIMAvax-EGF®, the only one of its kind in the world.

The drug, produced by the Center for Molecular Immunology, is administered to patients if they meet the requirements to receive the vaccine.

At present, patients with lung cancer in Santi Spiritus have a survival rate of more than 85 percent and their quality of life has been improved.

Yeslyn Marin, president of the Sancti Spiritus Chapter of Oncology, stated that lung cancer is the main cause of death from oncological diseases in the territory.

From 2010 to date, more than 310 cases diagnosed with non-small cell carcinoma, indistinctly, have received the vaccine in both primary and secondary care, she said.

She added that its use is hospital-based and free, and it is administered in the Chemotherapy Ward of the Camilo Cienfuegos Hospital only, where 70 or so people with this type of tumor receive it.

Specialists acknowledge that Carmen Vargas is one of the patients from Santi Espiritu with the longest survival from the disease.

Diagnosed with the disease in 2018 and thanks to the treatment for almost seven years with the Cuban vaccine, she has a high survival rate. The 63-year-old woman feels active in her functions as an engineer at the Empresa de Proyectos Agropecuarios (Agricultural Projects Company).

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized that this type of cancer was the second cause of death, with a predominance among women, people with white skin, people over 60 years old, retirees and smokers.

KPL