Cuba: Lowest Infant Mortality Rate Ever

Cuba: Lowest Infant Mortality Rate EverHavana, Jan 3. -Cuba closed the year 2010 with an infant mortality rate of 4.5 per 1,000 live births, the lowest ever registered in the country, according to a Granma newspaper report Monday.

Villa Clara province tops the list with a rate of 2.5, with another seven provinces below 5.0: Holguin, 3.0; Cienfuegos and Matanzas 3.7; Camagüey, 4.4; Granma, 4.7; and Pinar del Rio and Sancti Spiritus, 4.9.

The special municipality of the Isle of Youth recorded 2.8, and the provinces with rates higher than 5.0 do not surpass 5.7, thus corroborating the fairness of the Cuban social system.

In addition, 23 municipalities reported zero mortality rate.

The year 2010 reported 127,710 births, 2,326 less than in 2009, but there were 45 deaths less.

These figures are the fruit of the Revolution's huge efforts to guarantee the health of mother and child, the article said.

It is the confirmation of the achievements of a poor, blockaded country that it has the lowest infant mortality rate in the Americas. (Prensa Latina)