MADRID, Spain.- Eight newborns died in the Diez de Octubre Gynecology and Obstetric Hospital, in Havana, in the first two weeks of 2023, acknowledged the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) this Monday.
“During the month of January, eight newborns with low birth weight and prematurity have died,” MINSAP said in an official note.
According to the information, four of these children died as of last day 11 with presumptive signs of sepsis and the others from other causes related to their delicate state of health.
The brief note indicates that the hospital, popularly known as Hijas de Galicia, has taken measures to deal with this situation; as well as a National Commission of the Ministry of Public Health has been created to “investigate the causes of the event and according to the results, the pertinent measures will be applied.”
For years Cubans have been denouncing the precarious conditions in which hospitals are located, where a large number of resources necessary for patient care are lacking, as well as the unsanitary facilities, being very common to contract infections during hospitalization.
In 2022 Cuba registered an infant mortality rate of 7.5 per thousand live births, a figure slightly lower than that of 2021 (7.6), which had been the worst recorded in years.
Ten Cuban provinces were below the national average: Cienfuegos (4.3), Holguín (4.5), Sancti Spíritus (4.7), Matanzas (5.0), Artemisa (5.4), Pinar del Río (5.9), Ciego de Ávila (6.2), Granma (6.6), Las Tunas (7.0) and Villa Clara (7.3).
The worst numbers were registered in Camagüey (9.1), Havana (9.5), Guantanamo (9.7), Santiago de Cuba (9.9) and Mayabeque (12.2).
The MINSAP indicated that among the main causes of infant mortality in children under one year of age were perinatal conditions, mainly related to low birth weight, prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation, in addition to congenital malformations and sepsis.
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