Despite US Blockade, Cuba Produces Mechanical Ventilators

Despite the many limitation imposed on Cuba by the US blockade, science continues to develop for the sake of the people

Five models of a Cuban respirator are being developed by the Group of Electronics, Computing, Automation and Communication Industries (GELECT). The prototypes will be presented for evaluation to the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipments and Medical Devices (CECMED).

Between February and March 2020, information on the parts of artificial respirators began to be published. This allowed us to study the issue and after a while we began to work on the parts of a ventilator, says GELECT’s president Vicente de la O Levy, in a video posted on the company’s YouTube channel.

According to the expert, a multidisciplinary team participates in the manufacturing process of the mechanical device with specialists from intensive care units, the Jose Antonio Echeverría University City (CUJAE), the University of Havana and the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Only the electric motor and the sensors have been purchased abroad, the rest of the components are of Cuban manufacture.

Last year, Cuba tried to purchase lung ventilators from the Swiss companies IMT Medial AG and Acutronic, but both entities were acquired in April by the USA’s Vyaire Medical Inc, therefore they ceased business relations with the Caribbean island.

Translated from Granma