Cuba assists Vietnam with medical team, antiviral drug
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Topics: CUBA VIETNAM
The drug, Interferon alfa-2b, which induces the human body to produce antibodies against the novel coronavirus, were handed over at a ceremony held by the Ministry of National Defense’s department of foreign relations in Hanoi.
The drug could play a vital role in treating severely ill coronavirus patients, Lianys Torres Rivera, the Cuban ambassador to Vietnam, said at the event.
It has been used to successfully treat coroanvirus cases in Cuba, with the death rate among patients so treated being only 0.9 percent as of the end of April, she said.
"Over 80 countries have expressed their desire to buy this drug from Cuba." Interferon alfa-2b, which was created by Cuban scientists in the 1980s, has also proven effective in treating other diseases like hepatitis B, hepatitis C and shingles, she said. ■