Health officials in Havana say that Cuba's universal vaccination program has removed a help scourge threatening the island's children:  There have been no cases of acute hepatitis B in children younger than five years of age since 1999, and none in those younger than 15 since 2006.

Hepatitis B is an infection of the live spread when people come in contact with the blood, open sores, or body fluids of someone who has the virus.  It can cause scarring of the organ, liver failure, and cancer.  Hepatitis B can be fatal if it isn't treated; but if a patient survives it, they're immune for life.  Cuba has cut to the chase.

Dr. Gustavo Sierra Gonzalez of the state-owned biotech firm BioCubaFarma announced the milestone at a news conference with the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  He said that a cholera vaccine being developed in conjunction with the Finlay Institute, the National Scientific Research Center, and the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute, is in the final stages of clinical trials.  Meanwhile, phase two clinical trials with the anti-prostate cancer vaccine Heberprovac have shown positive results.

Dr. Sierra says Cuban vaccines have eliminated nine diseases.  A year ago, the UN World Health Organization heralded Cuba for becoming the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and syphilis.

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