Cuban Science Day is being celebrated here with a series of events on significant scientific contributions to the social and technological development of the nation, and marking the International Year of Chemistry.
Established in 1960, the Cuban Science Day honors a statement by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who said at the time, "The future of our homeland must be a future of men of science, of men of thought."
Since then, science has developed rapidly in Cuba, where diverse areas of research are aimed at protecting the environment, improving human health, and developing technology.
Major achievements were made last year in the medical field, including new products such as the therapeutic vaccine for advanced lung cancer and the anti-meningococcal vaccine A and C.
Other scientific breakthroughs were the anti-hemorrhoid drug containing recombinant streptokinase and interferon alpha, according to experts from the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment.
The festivities on Cuban Science Day are part of activities to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry, established by the United Nations to acknowledge breakthroughs in that field of science.
It is also a tribute to Polish scientist Marie Curie (1867-1934), who discovered radioactivity and was the first woman to win two Nobel prizes, the first in 1902 for that discovery, and the second eight years later, for discovering radium and polonium.