Guantanamo.- Guantánamo ended last year with an infant mortality rate of 7.3 per thousand live births, notably lower than the 9.0 recorded during 2023, but higher than the national average (7.1), and was one of the nine provinces that reduced deaths in that age group, the Public Health Directorate reported.
Two municipalities, San Antonio del Sur and Imías, received January without deaths in children under twelve months, and four other territories closed with rates lower than the national and provincial averages: Yateras (5.6), Baracoa (5.8), Maisí (6.4) and Niceto Pérez (6.5).
the decreasing trend for child mortality, for the second consecutive year, contrasts with the sharp decline in the birth rate, with only 4,236 births recorded, more than 1,500 fewer than in the previous period; and in a very difficult context aggravated by the passage of Hurricane Oscar.
There was only one maternal death, which equals the result of the previous year. Congenital malformations causing mortality among infants under one year of age remained at the expected rates.
The main causes of child mortality in Guantanamo were perinatal conditions, which include a wide range of ailments such as hypertension, preeclampsia and retroplacental hematoma, among others.
Low birth weight, despite being reduced, was the worst of the indicators of the Maternal and Child Care Program, especially related to Intrauterine Growth Retardation (CIUR), to which births to teenage mothers also contributed.
According to specialists from the Public Health Department, at the end of December there was an increase in deaths of children of preschool age (from one to five years) and school age (from six to 14 years), mainly due to accidents due to drowning, bronchoaspiration and traffic accidents.
