This article first appeared in Cuba’s Granma on Jan. 3, 2007. Cuban infant mortality rate, 5.3 deaths per every 1,000 live births, is less than that of the United States, 6.4 deaths per every 1,000 live births. It is considerably less than the U.S. rate in urban centers.
Cuba ended 2006 recording its lowest infant mortality rate ever with 5.3 infant deaths per every thousand live births, a level that puts Cuba at the top of Latin America and second only to Canada in the Americas.
Infant mortality rates are considered as indicators of the general state of health of a nation’s population and their
level of socio-cultural development. Cuba is among the top 30 countries worldwide with the lowest probability of infant death from childbirth till the age of one-year-old.
According to data from the National Directorate of Statistics of the Ministry of Public Health, the provinces with the lowest infant mortality rate during 2006 were Holguin (3.8), Camaguey (4.3), and Granma and Matanzas (4.4). The City of Havana showed an impressive decrease going from 6.7 in 2005 to 4.9 in 2006.
The Cuban healthcare system is based on universal care to all citizens, free of charge. Efforts have been made to establish clinics and make healthcare fully accessible even in the most remote areas of the country. The universality of the system is evident in the fact that nine provinces recorded infant mortality rates below the national average.
Over the last 10 years, Cuba has reduced its infant mortality rate by more than 40 percent.
This success story has taken place while the ironclad US blockade against Cuba has intensified, reaching its most extreme levels in more than 45 years of blockade. The results reflect the country’s political decision to put a priority on healthcare and especially mother-child healthcare and boast the dedication of the island’s doctors and nurses.
In 2006, three new prenatal tests for genetic illnesses were added to the standard services provided to pregnant women (including 13 vaccinations provided to newborns within their first year).
The introduction of modern technologies also played an important role in improving pediatric and neonatal services along with improvements made to the William Soler Hospital Pediatric Cardio Center and the National Center of Genetics, both in the areas of prenatal diagnosis of congenital cardiopathy. This led to the development of genetic counseling and early surgical correction in those cases that required it.
The Ministry of Public Health also reported that during 2006, the main causes of death among Cuban children less than one year old were perinatal problems (occurring during the first few days of birth) such as hypoxia, hyaline membrane disease, and bronchial suctioning of amniotic fluid, a pattern similar to that of developed nations.
Without a doubt, the 5.3 infant mortality rate is the best present that our doctors and nurses could possibly have come up with for the 48th anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution.
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