Abstract

LOPEZ ESPINOSA, José Antonio. Bicentenary of the introduction of vaccine in Cuba. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2004, vol.30, n.2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3127.

One of the biggest obstacles to the socio-economic development of the island of Cuba for over three hundred years of the colonial period was the occurrence of epidemic diseases such as chickenpox. Cuban medical scholar Tomas Romay Chacon was in charge of the initial eradication of this disease by spreading the use of vaccine against this terrible evil. A brief account is made on the history and evolution of smallpox and of the strategies applied at the very beginning to prevent it at international scale. Emphasis was made on the role played by Dr Romay in the introduction and spreading of this vaccine in Cuba and his great prestige as health care provider. This paper intends to pay modest homage to the bicentenary of such an important event and to honor the memory of the leading person in the 240th anniversary of his birth

Keywords : Special anniversaries and events; Smallporx; history; Smallpox; Prevention and control; Vaccine against samllpox; History; Figures in Cuba.