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> The best proof is the fact that 80% of all of Cuba's vaccines are produced in the country itself, Moya said. He was not surprised by the high efficacy of Abda

> The best proof is the fact that 80% of all of Cuba's vaccines are produced in the country itself, Moya said. He was not surprised by the high efficacy of Abdala, saying it was simply the logical consequence of a health care system that had been performing steadily well for decades. It is impressive that a country like Cuba, subject to a long-lasting USA economic embargo, is able to keep a healthy health care system. More impressive if you compare child mortality (U5M under 5 years old) rates below 5.5 per 1000 live births, only bested in the Americas by Canada. I hope that the vaccine works as expected. To stop new mutations to appear so fast we depend on having as much world population vaccinated as possible.

marcodiego 5y ago
I think that is what happens when there are few opportunities on public services for corruption or exorbitant profit: efficiency soars. Actually "exorbitant profit" in critical areas may not be that different from corruption, nevertheless.
- ElViajero 5y ago
  > "exorbitant profit" in critical areas may not be that different from corruption, nevertheless. I agree. In a capitalist country an "exorbitant profit" for a long time is a failure of the system. Why nobody else is producing the same service if there is so much profit to be gain? And, if there is competition, why is not shrinking that margins to compete? Capitalism is great when there are many small competitors that need to push quality up or prices down. If you only have 1 big corporation dominating each market, that's just communism with extra steps. The economy is just a planned economy and no competition nor capitalism is happening.
  - marcodiego 5y ago
    Monopoly is what happens when capitalism is not working right. Of course, that is not the single source of monopoly, but it should not exist when capitalism works correctly. There are probably many people who dream of capitalism as a chance to become a billionaire, not only such a possibility is very small, it actually frequently unfair: you need much more than honest merit to become one. The best part of capitalism is how it is a good system for the buyer and the costumer not for the seller or producer.
    - cortesoft 5y ago
      I think whether your statement is correct or not depends on how you define “capitalism working right” In a purely free market with no outside checks, monopolies are very common and almost inevitable. As Adam Smith says in Wealth of Nations: > People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. Effective regulation is needed to prevent monopolies and cartels.
      - ElViajero 5y ago
        > I think whether your statement is correct or not depends on how you define “capitalism working right” I agree, even I will say that it depends on how do you define "capitalism". > Effective regulation is needed to prevent monopolies and cartels. That's why regulations are and always have been part of capitalism. A " purely free market with no outside checks" is Neo-liberalism or anarchy, even if there has been a push to label anything to the left of Neo-liberalism as "communism". Such a push have gained a lot of traction, and I see that many people in the general public thinks that Neo-liberalism = Capitalism, that it is not the case. So, maybe the definition of capitalism is changing. And maybe the push have succeed and now "capitalism working right” just means the rich getting richer and has nothing to do with the original work of Adam Smith. That would be sad, thou. Capitalism is a good system as defined by Adam Smith, Neo-liberalism is just a pantomime that promotes authoritarianism dressed as free-trade.
        cortesoft 5y ago
        Ok, then I agree with you. I was worried that what most people hear when they see “capitalism” is unregulated markets.
        licebmi__at__ 5y ago
        Maybe we could entertain the idea that even with all the wisdom contained within Adam Smith’s work, it might at least somewhat wrong.
    - pyuser583 5y ago
  - chillwaves 5y ago
    A socialist worker model of co-ops can provide competitive marketplaces as well.
    - ElViajero 5y ago
      > A socialist worker model of co-ops can provide competitive marketplaces as well. Yes, co-ops are also a recognized type of organization in capitalist countries. They exist all over the world in and compete in the markets where they participate.
      - robertlagrant 5y ago
        Indeed - nothing non-capitalist about co-ops. If a company wants to decide to structure its ownership that way then why not?
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        In this case it is both capitalist and communist at the same time. I wouldn't be so sure that something that involves no capitalists and no private ownership of capital is capitalist though (communal ownership being different from private ownership).
        robertlagrant 5y ago
        > (communal ownership being different from private ownership) This seems like subjective definitions; cooperatives certainly work by issuing a segment of their ownership to each private individual who works for them. This is up to them because they're operating in a capitalist model where organisations decide for themselves their ownership model and the allocation of their resources; contrasted with a central planning model.
- refurb 5y ago
  This is a ridiculous statement. Look at the latest cancer treatments, they are produced by for profit companies. Not Cuba.
  - clydethefrog 5y ago
    What about CimaVax-EGF? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CimaVax-EGF https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CimaVax-EGF
  - bccdee 5y ago
    Historically, research spending has been mostly done by the government, although in the US the proportion of research funded by the government has fallen in recent years [1]. [1]: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-govern...
    - refurb 5y ago
      Basic funding, so that figure ignore actual development costs. NIH has a budget that is about half that of big pharma. It’s mostly private money.
mmsimanga 5y ago
It really is a great achievement. As an African I hope our leaders are taking inspiration from the Cubans. If we put our minds to it we should also be able to produce our own vaccine.

marcodiego 5y ago

I think that is what happens when there are few opportunities on public services for corruption or exorbitant profit: efficiency soars. Actually "exorbitant profit" in critical areas may not be that different from corruption, nevertheless.

ElViajero 5y ago
> "exorbitant profit" in critical areas may not be that different from corruption, nevertheless. I agree. In a capitalist country an "exorbitant profit" for a long time is a failure of the system. Why nobody else is producing the same service if there is so much profit to be gain? And, if there is competition, why is not shrinking that margins to compete? Capitalism is great when there are many small competitors that need to push quality up or prices down. If you only have 1 big corporation dominating each market, that's just communism with extra steps. The economy is just a planned economy and no competition nor capitalism is happening.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  Monopoly is what happens when capitalism is not working right. Of course, that is not the single source of monopoly, but it should not exist when capitalism works correctly. There are probably many people who dream of capitalism as a chance to become a billionaire, not only such a possibility is very small, it actually frequently unfair: you need much more than honest merit to become one. The best part of capitalism is how it is a good system for the buyer and the costumer not for the seller or producer.
  - cortesoft 5y ago
    I think whether your statement is correct or not depends on how you define “capitalism working right” In a purely free market with no outside checks, monopolies are very common and almost inevitable. As Adam Smith says in Wealth of Nations: > People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. Effective regulation is needed to prevent monopolies and cartels.
    - ElViajero 5y ago
      > I think whether your statement is correct or not depends on how you define “capitalism working right” I agree, even I will say that it depends on how do you define "capitalism". > Effective regulation is needed to prevent monopolies and cartels. That's why regulations are and always have been part of capitalism. A " purely free market with no outside checks" is Neo-liberalism or anarchy, even if there has been a push to label anything to the left of Neo-liberalism as "communism". Such a push have gained a lot of traction, and I see that many people in the general public thinks that Neo-liberalism = Capitalism, that it is not the case. So, maybe the definition of capitalism is changing. And maybe the push have succeed and now "capitalism working right” just means the rich getting richer and has nothing to do with the original work of Adam Smith. That would be sad, thou. Capitalism is a good system as defined by Adam Smith, Neo-liberalism is just a pantomime that promotes authoritarianism dressed as free-trade.
      - cortesoft 5y ago
        Ok, then I agree with you. I was worried that what most people hear when they see “capitalism” is unregulated markets.
      - licebmi__at__ 5y ago
        Maybe we could entertain the idea that even with all the wisdom contained within Adam Smith’s work, it might at least somewhat wrong.
  - pyuser583 5y ago
- chillwaves 5y ago
  A socialist worker model of co-ops can provide competitive marketplaces as well.
  - ElViajero 5y ago
    > A socialist worker model of co-ops can provide competitive marketplaces as well. Yes, co-ops are also a recognized type of organization in capitalist countries. They exist all over the world in and compete in the markets where they participate.
    - robertlagrant 5y ago
      Indeed - nothing non-capitalist about co-ops. If a company wants to decide to structure its ownership that way then why not?
      - sudosysgen 5y ago
        In this case it is both capitalist and communist at the same time. I wouldn't be so sure that something that involves no capitalists and no private ownership of capital is capitalist though (communal ownership being different from private ownership).
        robertlagrant 5y ago
        > (communal ownership being different from private ownership) This seems like subjective definitions; cooperatives certainly work by issuing a segment of their ownership to each private individual who works for them. This is up to them because they're operating in a capitalist model where organisations decide for themselves their ownership model and the allocation of their resources; contrasted with a central planning model.
refurb 5y ago
This is a ridiculous statement. Look at the latest cancer treatments, they are produced by for profit companies. Not Cuba.
- clydethefrog 5y ago
  What about CimaVax-EGF? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CimaVax-EGF https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CimaVax-EGF
- bccdee 5y ago
  Historically, research spending has been mostly done by the government, although in the US the proportion of research funded by the government has fallen in recent years [1]. [1]: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-govern...
  - refurb 5y ago
    Basic funding, so that figure ignore actual development costs. NIH has a budget that is about half that of big pharma. It’s mostly private money.

mmsimanga 5y ago

It really is a great achievement. As an African I hope our leaders are taking inspiration from the Cubans. If we put our minds to it we should also be able to produce our own vaccine.