Cuba to hold day dedicated to maternal and child health

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 4 (ACN) A day of scientific activities and community interventions will be held in Cuba to celebrate World Health Day on April 7, dedicated this year to maternal and newborn health, under the slogan "Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures," health authorities announced today at a press conference.

Mario Cruz Peñate, representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in the Caribbean island, said that the objective of the campaign is to contribute to the survival and prosperity of all mothers and children after childbirth and a better quality of life of this binomial after birth.

He highlighted the work of Cuban medical missions around the world and their impact in reducing maternal and infant deaths.

PAHO executive urged governments and the health community to strengthen efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and to prioritize the long-term health and well-being of women.

He highlighted that on this day the health entity will publish a major report with worldwide figures on maternal and infant mortality.

For her part, Ailuj Casanova Barreto, national director of medical care of the Ministry of Public Health, emphasized that the Cuban health system manages the entire process of care for mothers and newborns, with assistance for obstetric complications, mental health conditions and non-communicable diseases, in addition to promoting family planning.

Every year, 300,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth and more than 2 million newborns lose their lives in their first month, which means that every seven seconds there is a preventable death of a child.

In Latin America, this situation worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic when one maternal death was recorded every hour, and at present, a dozen countries, including the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Haiti and Nicaragua, have the most complex situations in terms of the above-mentioned indicators.
The main causes are adolescent pregnancies, unattended or late deliveries by obstetric specialists and low health coverage.