Cuba achieved the highest number of pregnancies in infertile couples in 2020

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 9 (ACN) In a complex and challenging 2020, Cuba achieved 7,027 pregnancies through the Infertile Couple Attention Program, the highest figure achieved since its creation in 2016, when it had a network of services with universal coverage, Dr. Roberto Alvarez Fumero, coordinator of the program, said.

The doctor affirmed that 25,574 new couples were assisted in the municipal and provincial clinics and in the four high-tech assisted reproduction centers, located in the Hermanos Ameijeiras and Ramon Gonzalez Coro (Havana), Gustavo Aldereguia Lima (Cienfuegos) and Vladimir Ilich Lenin (Holguin) hospitals.

Alvarez Fumero, who is also a second-degree specialist in Health Organization and Administration, detailed that 70 percent of the pregnancies occurred in municipal consultations, hence the importance of attending promptly and trusting in the process.

Currently 99.3 percent of all cases identified since 2018 have been assisted in those consultations, he added.

In the final half of last year, Alvarez Fumero noted, significant progress was made in the recovery of couples diagnosed in 2019, but who, due to the pandemic, had not been closely followed up.

Likewise, through integrated actions and organizational measures, the frequency of consultations was increased and a greater flow of couples to the provincial services was guaranteed, where 2,650 women were inseminated and, along with other surgical procedures, 267 more pregnancies were obtained than in the previous year, the doctor added.

The expert explained that in 2020, 702 couples were treated in those facilities and 77 pregnancies were gestated despite the financial limitations; he pointed out that each treatment costs the country about 4,000 dollars only for expendable material, culture media, reagents and medicines; in addition, many people were unable to travel to the centers because of the pandemic.

For the Cuban State, the Infertile Couple Care Program is a priority, a very sensitive issue for families and which has repercussions on the increase of the birth rate, in view of a complex demographic dynamics, without population renewal for more than 30 years, the specialist assured.

The coordinator of the Infertile Couple Attention Program stated that it is a priority to resolve these couples whose infertility dates back to many years ago, when the health system did not have a program or the current network of services.