Sancti Spíritus Stands Out in Cuba for Low Infant Mortality Rate

At the end of 2019, Sancti Spíritus reported an infant mortality rate of 3.6 per 1 000 live births, a result that distinguishes the province with the second best indicator in the country.

According to Dr. Frank García González, head of the Maternal and Child Care Program at the Provincial Health Office, even when the death of 15 infants could not be prevented, the efforts of the staff at the neonatology service of the provincial maternity hospital and intensive care unit of the provincial pediatric hospital had much to do with the low mortality rate reported.

Dr. García González also highlighted the work of the medical and nursing staff in the more than 460 existing doctors’ offices, the exhaustive follow-up of pregnant women and infants and the early diagnosis of congenital anomalies.

The municipalities of Cabaiguán and La Sierpe stood out among the rest since no deaths of children under one year old were reported last year.

During 2019, more than 4 160 infants were born in the province —although the figure decreased by around two hundred births— hence the work with women of childbearing potential must continue since Sancti Spíritus is one of the oldest territories in the country.