ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Health Minister Sir Molwyn Joseph says Antigua and Barbuda could become the first country in the Caribbean to offer a cancer prevention vaccine after it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a hospital in China last week.
Sir Molwyn, part of the Antigua and Barbuda delegation that Prime Minister Gaston Browne headed, told reporters on his return here Monday evening that the vaccine could become a reality within two years.
“What excited me in China was the opportunity to learn more of what is already there in terms of science and technology in dealing with many diseases that are taking the lives of Antiguans and Barbudans, such as diabetes.
“I was blown away when we visited a hospital, and we were able to see a piece of equipment that not only diagnosed the patient at the end stage of the disease, but it is an equipment that can forecast the disease,” he told reporters.
He described the Chinese approach to health care as very revealing: “They have the equipment that gives them that capacity, not only for diabetes but for cancer screening.
“There is a new technology which we were fully exposed to, where dealing with cancer would be like dealing with a vaccine. They are saying they are working on a vaccine to prevent cancer.
“Can you imagine that? Not only that, but they are developing the technology to give your body the ability to fight cancers, and that technology, according to the scientists, is about two years away from maturing. We here in Antigua and Barbuda will have the opportunity to be first in line for that technology that can be shared with the rest of the Caribbean,” he added.
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