In a significant scientific gathering at Havana’s Palace of the Revolution, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez convened with the nation’s leading health experts to review groundbreaking progress in pneumococcal vaccine development. The meeting revealed extraordinary outcomes from Cuba’s vaccination initiatives, particularly noting that incidence rates among children aged one to four years have plummeted to zero since 2019.
Dagmar García Rivera, Deputy Director of Research and Development at the Finlay Institute of Vaccines (IFV), presented compelling data demonstrating how Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the primary cause of bacterial infectious diseases in children under five globally. Despite existing vaccination programs, millions continue to die from pneumonia and related complications worldwide.
The Cuban scientific team has developed an innovative approach to multivalent vaccines targeting multiple pneumococcal serotypes. Their research has produced a 7-serotype vaccine, an advanced 11-serotype candidate currently in clinical trials, and a pioneering 16-serotype vaccine in preclinical development.
Dr. Yury Valdés Balbín, Director General of IFV, emphasized the unique capacity of Cuba’s healthcare system to conduct sophisticated clinical trials within primary care settings rather than hospitals. “Only a political system like ours has the capacity to coordinate all stakeholders,” Balbín stated, acknowledging the efforts of healthcare workers across Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago de Cuba.
The most compelling evidence came from Project Leader María Eugenia Toledo Romaní, who revealed that after vaccinating over 90% of children aged 1-5 in Cienfuegos province, invasive disease rates dropped from 3.1-9.1 per 10,000 children to absolute zero. Notably, all pneumococcal cases occurring after 2019 were exclusively among unvaccinated children.
The data further demonstrated that unvaccinated children face 3.48 times greater risk of ICU admission for severe pneumonia compared to vaccinated children. Vicente Vérez Bencomo, President of Finlay Vaccines S.A., concluded that despite these achievements, Cuban science continues to pursue technological leaps beyond even their 16-serotype vaccine, maintaining Fidel Castro’s principle: “We have to compete with the best.”