Nine studies of natural products were inspected last year in the Cuban Public Registry of Clinical Trials, four of them related to the COVID-19 control, informed the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap).

Nine studies of natural products were presented in the Cuban Public Registry of Clinical Trials, four of them related to the COVID-19 confrontation, informed the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap).

Dr. Johann Perdomo, head of the sector's Natural and Traditional Medicine (MNT) department, told the Cuban News Agency (ACN) that the number of teaching scenarios for the training of specialists certified by the National Accreditation Board has increased to four.

Among the new products is the introduction of Curmeric, a new line elaborated from the productive chain between the Havana Pharmacy Company and MEDILIP Laboratories, which has been used in the fight against COVID-19, with the Basic Table of Natural Products number 173, the specialist said.

With proven antibacterial action, Curmeric contains extracts of Curcuma longa, and according to its researchers, laboratory and clinical studies have shown that it is safe and also has anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects against the Bovine Coronavirus, of the same subgenus as SARS-COV-2.

According to ACN, this natural product is used orally and nasally and was previously subjected to observational clinical studies, in which 800 people from the Havana municipalities of Regla and Plaza de la Revolución participated; the drug was also authorized for sale in the Pharmacies of Natural and Homeopathic Products of those localities.

Research led by the Calixto García University Surgical Clinical Hospital in Havana, together with the Center for Technological Applications and Nuclear Development, corroborates that Curcuma longa supplements lower glycemia, cholesterol and triglycerides in patients with diabetes and dyslipidemias.

Curmeric was applied to almost a hundred workers in vulnerable areas of that institution during the first months of confrontation with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused COVID-19, and they showed fewer infections than those who did not use it, the researchers report.

In spite of the pandemic in 2021 - highlighted this media - the local production of more than 88.8 million units of natural products was achieved, 104% of the fulfillment of the plan, as well as the biopharmaceutical industry delivered 10.6 million of these highly demanded items, said Johann Perdomo.

The Basic List of Natural Products for 2021 included 172 items, 111 of them locally produced and 61 manufactured by the industry, emphasized the Minsap official.

In general, there is a high demand for these products by the population, increased during the pandemic and in the midst of the lack and low coverage of medicines.

The expert announced that the business group BioCubaFarma is developing a Research Program for Products of Natural Origin, with projects aimed at the introduction of new products of this type.

The Center for Research on Protein Plants and Bionatural Products is also working with other medicinal plants such as mulberry and stevia for the development of new pharmaceutical formulations, said the head of the Minsap's Natural and Traditional Medicine Department.

Although they do not satisfy the current demand, among the most demanded lines are the anti-catarrhal syrups, creams, ointments and ointments; as well as the frictions used for the treatment of osteomyoarticular pains.

Recently, spices such as linden, mint lemon balm, chamomile and guava, among others, have been introduced with great acceptance, concluded the manager.