Reducing maternal and infant mortality rates, priority in Cuba

Reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in Cuba, with the goal of reaching 6.9 per 1,000 indicator births by 2025 and a figure of less than 40 per 100,000 pregnant women, is today an objective of the Caribbean nation's health system.

According to Ailuj Casanova Barreto, national director of Medical Care of the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap), the Maternal and Infant Program (PMI) is one of the tasks prioritized in the country, with current projections aimed at increasing breastfeeding and increasing the level of knowledge of professionals for the care of mothers and newborns.

The specialist highlighted to the press that despite the complex economic situation of the island, seven provinces had in 2024 the infant mortality rate below the national average (7.1 as in 2023).

On the other hand, the maternal mortality figure in 2024 was 40.6 per 100,000 women; while in 2023, the number reached 38.7, and Villa Clara province had zero maternal deaths for three consecutive years, the source said.

In the context of the celebration, this April 7, of World Health Day, dedicated to the health of mothers and newborns, Casanova Barreto reiterated that among the challenges of this country is to strengthen the program of care for fertile women, reduce teenage pregnancy and enhance complex health intervention programs to prevent preconception reproductive risks and comprehensive management of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes at this gestational stage.

It is also a priority to apply measures to prevent pre-term births, to give priority follow-up to pregnant women at high obstetric risk to achieve adequate pre-birth care and to reduce the incidence of low birth weight in infants, she stated.

Regarding teenage pregnancy, the specialist affirmed that it has dropped to 18 % in 2025, one less than in the same period in 2024, and activities such as the integral attention to children, adolescents and youths, among which more than five thousand training actions were carried out for specialists from all sectors of society, contribute to this.

She emphasized that in 2024 vaccination against pneumococcus was carried out for the first time on the island and this is also a positive indicator for the health of infants.

In recent years there has been a trend in the decrease of births, since in 2024 Cuba had 71,374 live births, 19,075 less than in 2023, something that impacts on the acceleration of the aging population of Cuban society and requires greater work by health personnel in implementing reproductive policies in provincial and municipal clinics and high-tech centers.

For his part, Mario Cruz Peñate, representative of the Pan American Health Organization in Cuba, detailed the execution of joint actions between the Ministry of Health and the regional organization, such as workshops on obstetric emergency training, support to the community genetics network, and attention to PAMI, to contribute to putting an end to preventable deaths of mothers and newborns and their long-term wellbeing.

He reaffirmed the commitment to promote South-South cooperation, as maternal and child health is not only an indicator, but the basis for fair and equitable societies.

World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7, in commemoration of the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 and this year's theme is "Safe beginnings, healthy futures".