On December 3-4, 2020, the Fifth International Congress “Russia - Nicaragua: Healthcare Under Pressure. Challenges For The Pharmaceutical Industry.” The congress was organized by the Saint Petersburg Institute of Vaccines and Serums (SPbSRIVS), the Instituto Latinoamericano de Biotecnología MECHNIKOV, S.A. and The Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (NSSI).
The event was attended by officials of the Republic of Nicaragua, such as the Special Representative of the President of Nicaragua for Cooperation with Russia Laureano Ortega, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Nicaragua Martha Reyes, the Director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Insurance Roberto Lopez, as well as the Executive Secretary of SE-COMISCA Alejandro Solis Martinez.
As a representative of the host country, SPbSRIVS Director Viktor Trukhin greeted the congress participants with a welcome address. Within the framework of the congress, the experts discussed such topical issues of the present-day healthcare as the pandemic, vaccination and the challenges that the outgoing year 2020 posed in the field of regulations and clinical trials.
Scientific Director of the Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Serums, Academician Vitaly Zverev shared with his colleagues his view of the global COVID-19 situation and the lessons that we must learn from this pandemic.
Director of the Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza Dmitry Lioznov voiced his position on vaccination in the conditions of a pandemic, commented on efforts made by various countries to combat the pandemic, and touched upon the current WHO / PAHO recommendations on COVID-19.
Vadim Merkulov, Deputy Director of the Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products, Russian Ministry of Health, reported on the challenges in the field of regulation in the context of the pandemic.
Remarkable was the participation of Cuban experts from CECMED, the national regulatory agency, an important member of WHO and PAHO.
Deputy Director of CECMED Yaquelin Rodriguez Valdes shared Cuba's experience in combatting the new coronavirus infection. The congress participants discussed the results of the use of the inactivated split influenza vaccine produced by SPbSRIVS and the Instituto MECHNIKOV in Nicaragua in the period from 2016 to 2020. All the experts in the discussion agreed that the influenza prevention remains a burning issue during the pandemic.
Overall, more than 12 million doses of influenza vaccine produced by SPbSRIVS and the Instituto MECHNIKOV have been delivered to the Latin American countries since 2016. By now, the pharmaceutical product developed in St. Petersburg has received approvals in Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba and Nicaragua. SPbSRIVS is planning to obtain regulatory approvals for the vaccine in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic soon.
