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| Cuba's 2011 infant mortality rate is lowest in Americas |
For the last four years Cuba has achieved an infant mortality rate of
below 5.0 per 1,000 live births, the lowest in the Americas together with
Canada – sustained by the revolutionary government’s health policies which
guarantee equality of access to medical services for mothers and children.
Social justice is unmistakably revealed on observing the status of
this indicator in the country’s 15 provinces and the special municipality of
the Isle of Youth. None of those recording a result higher than the national
average of 4.9 are not in excess of 7.9.
The United States, which has maintained its criminal economic blockade
of the country for more than 50 years, records an infant mortality rate of 7.0
although, taking into account the humiliating inequalities between rich and
poor, rates in areas inhabited by the most dispossessed are, on average, 2.5
times higher. Approximately seven million U.S. children lack any health
coverage.
As is known, the infant mortality rate, which measures the risk of
death during the first year of life – the most critical for human beings’
survival – is an expression of the quality with which a country treats and
protects mothers and children, their health, their material security, education
and socialization. Thus it is an international demographic indicator which
demonstrates these advances in a synthetic way.
According to preliminary data given to Granma January 1 by the
Ministry of Public Health Statistics Office, in 2011 there were 133,063 births,
5,317 more than in 2010.
Seven provinces achieved rates of below 4.0. These are Las Tunas
(3.5), Artemisa (3.9), Pinar del Río (4.0), Holguín (4.0), Havana (4.3), Ciego
de Ávila (4.4) and Granma (4.4). Of the country’s 168 municipalities, 17 have
zero infant mortality.
When experts are consulted every year as to how Cuba makes these
favorable infant mortality rates possible, responses are usually in a similar
vein: political will and determination, a highly educated population, an
all-encompassing vaccination program with a virtually 100% coverage of
children, and a universal health system, accessible and free of charge, which
is currently restoring the initial concept of the Family Doctor and Nurse
Program in order to attain a more efficient and sustainable health system.
All that is complemented by highly qualified health workers, with
their proverbial human dedication and solidarity.
The multifaceted care given to pregnant women in Cuba is known. For
the significance that means for the security and happiness of Cuban families,
it is worth recalling national genetic services in the area of public health.
A genetic risk study is made in the early stages of pregnancy;
followed by a hemoglobin electrophoresis to identify carriers of sickle cell
anemia and, if the mother is a carrier, the father is given the test and if
they both are, the baby is checked at birth to diagnose whether s/he is
healthy, a carrier or sick.
Genetic ultrasounds are made in the first and second trimesters of
pregnancy, plus an alpha-fetoprotein study to identify possible central nervous
system defects. In the case of pregnant woman aged over 37, at greatest risk of
having a Downs Syndrome baby, they are given the option of prenatal screening.
Specialists with the Maternal-Infant Attention Program affirm that
even greater security for women and their offspring can be achieved, and have
called on women of reproductive age to establish adequate family planning which
includes previous investigations, in order to ensure their good health during
pregnancy and to minimize risks.
Family doctors provide these services and a follow up on disorders
related to pre-conception risks. Within the program, women are asked to consult
a doctor at least six months before planning a wanted pregnancy. Risks of this
nature are basically related to malnutrition, anemia, hypertension, diabetes
mellitus, hypothyroidism, and infections of the uterus, urinary tract and
respiratory system (asthma).
A continued reduction in the infant mortality rate as an expression of
human development requires both the efforts of the national public health
system and greater individual and social commitment to adopting measures
leading to responsible pregnancies.
17 MUNCIPALITIES WITH ZERO INFANT MORTALITY, 2011
PROVINCES MUNICIPALITIES PROVINCES MUNICIPALITIES
Pinar del Río
Viñales Cienfuegos Palmira
Artemisa Mariel
Rodas
Guanajay Ciego Ávila
Bolivia
Mayabeque Melena
del Sur Majagua
Matanzas Perico
Camagüey Najasa
Pedro Betancourt
Holguín Cueto
Los Arabos Granma
Buey Arriba
Villa Clara
Quemados Guantánamo Caimanera
Cifuentes
Source: MINSAP
National Statistics Office.
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