MIAMI, United States. — Suicide is among the 10 leading causes of death in Cuba. This was stated by the regime’s Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, during the annual balance of the sectorheld this Monday at the Palace of the Revolution.
In the report presented – which was prepared based on figures from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) – mention is made of suicide with the euphemism of self-inflicted injuries, without further details.
According to the information, the first cause of death on the Island in 2022 was heart disease, followed by malignant tumors, cerebrovascular diseases, influenza and pneumonia, and accidents.
Also on the list are chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract; diseases of the arteries, arterioles and capillaries; Diabetes Mellitus; Cirrhosis and other chronic conditions that affect the liver.
The report presented by Portal Miranda details that in Cuba life expectancy at birth in the 2018-2020 period was 77.70 years, which shows a decrease compared to the 2014-2016 period, when it was 78.07 years.
According to the Minister of Public Health, “the observed reduction is related, among other causes, to the high degree of population aging; the increase in risk factors that increase mortality from Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases”.
Portal Miranda also made reference to “the upward trend in premature mortality in young adults under 60 years of age, where deaths from accidents, cardiovascular diseases and malignant tumors have a significant weight, as well as the first impacts of the pandemic caused by COVID -19 in the year 2020”.
A study carried out by this newspaper in 2021 with statistics from ONEI revealed that between 2014 and 2020 some four people died daily in Cuba from self-inflicted injuries (suicide).
According to data from health statistics yearbooks, almost 9,000 have died from this method between 2014 and 2020. A phenomenon that particularly affects seniors, as it happens in other nations.
