The infant mortality rate fell to the lowest record in history in 2021 (8 per thousand against 9.2 per thousand in 2019), announced this Monday the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, during a meeting of the Federal Health Council ( Cofesa).
At the meeting, which was held in the Hall of the Original Peoples of the Casa Rosada, the authorities detailed that, in total, In 2021, 4,238 infant deaths were recorded, which represents a 6% reduction compared to 2020.
The decrease was 8% for deaths that occur in the neonatal period (3,029, in 2021, versus 3,303, in 2019), while it was maintained for the post-neonatal period (1,209 versus 1,202 deaths, respectively). indicated the Health portfolio in a statement.
Thus, the rate of deaths of girls and boys under 1 year of age in 2021 was 8 per thousand, which represents a decrease of more than one point in two years.
They highlighted that, in addition to the decrease at the country level in the infant mortality rate, there was also a shortening of the gap between the provinces (difference between the provinces with the highest and lowest infant mortality rates).
In 2020, the registered range was from 4.9 to 16.4 per thousand (11.5 points of difference), while in 2021 it was between 4.6 and 11.6 per thousand (7 points of difference).
Additionally, while in 2020 five provinces registered mortality rates above double digits (more than 10 per thousand), in 2021 there were four provinces that presented values above that mark.
They also specified that The infant mortality rate continued to decline during the years of the coronavirus pandemic, and the cause “is partly explained by the impact of the multiple plans and programs aimed at improving the health of children under 1 year of age, such as Law 1000 days whose objective is comprehensive health care and care during pregnancy and early childhood.
In addition, it was reported that in 2021 there were 529,794 live births, which represents a slight decrease at the country level compared to the values registered in 2020 and the seventh consecutive year of decrease in birth rates in the country.
In this context, a new decline was observed in the adolescent fertility rate, which went from 15.4 per thousand women aged 10 to 19 in 2020, to 13.7 per thousand in 2021, that is, a decrease of 1. 7 points in one year.
In this regard, the health portfolio remarked that “The sustainability of the decline in late adolescent fertility is reinforced by the implementation strategy of public policies for the prevention of unintended pregnancy in adolescence and access to free contraceptive methods, especially long-term LARC (IUDs and subdermal implants). )”.
In relation to maternal deaths due to abortion, they indicated that there was a decrease from 15 in 2020 to 9 in 2021.
In this sense, they highlighted the implementation of Law 27,610 on Access to the Interruption of Pregnancy (ILE/IVE) that created conditions for access to safe abortion, and this is observed in the decrease in maternal mortality due to abortion in the first year of implementation of the law.
“The goal of maternal mortality due to abortion is zero, for which it is necessary to continue expanding the health teams that guarantee the practice, continue with the availability of medication at the first level of care and improve the quality of care in the second trimester and post-abortion”, explained the Ministry.
Finally, they reported that at the national level the maternal mortality ratio -which expresses the relationship between deaths from maternal causes and the number of live births in a period- increased from 4.1 per 10,000 live births in 2020, to 7 .4 in 2021, an increase that is explained “by indirect obstetric causes, among which the outbreak of the pandemic caused by Covid-19 stands out.”
Of the 393 maternal deaths registered in 2021, 220 correspond to pregnant people who died due to Covid-19 during pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium.
Likewise, 56% of the total maternal deaths registered in 2021 (80% of maternal deaths from indirect causes) were due to Covid-19.
In 2020, 37 deaths from this disease were identified, while in 2021 220 were registered, a figure that coincides with the evolution of the pandemic in the country, “being the group of pregnant people one of the priority groups for vaccination.”
At the Cofesa meeting, Vizzotti also highlighted among the priorities of the health agenda “the implementation of the Fierritas program, the launch of Sueño Seguro, the incorporation of bivariate vaccines into the national vaccination strategy against Covid-19, the Federal Strategy Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health, and the work axes of Human Talent and the National Quality Plan”.
Within this framework, he emphasized the progress of the Health System Reconstruction Plan, through which “we have been delivering ambulances and preparing hospitals and health centers for the distribution of resonators, angiographs, digital equipment, and tomographs.”
In statements to the press, Vizzotti clarified that the bivalent vaccines that protect against two variants of Covid-19 (the original, detected in China, and the Omicron mutation) “are already approved by the regulatory entities of the United States, Europe, and Argentina” and that “900 were distributed thousand”.
In addition, the minister informed her provincial peers that the national Ministry signed a resolution to declare the veterinary profession of health interest.
On the other hand, he pointed out that The Argentine vaccine against Covid-19 “ARVAC Cecilia Grierson” began the enrollment of volunteers this Monday “to test the drug and carry out the phase 2/3 clinical trial” and added that “2,000 people will participate.”
At the start of the Cofesa meeting agenda, the Undersecretary for Quality, Regulation and Oversight, Claudio Ortiz, presented the new Comprehensive System for the Evaluation of the Health Team Residences (SIER) whose objective is “the evaluation of residences of the health team, through compliance with quality standards in order to guarantee adequate professional training”.
The Single Exam will be held on June 28, and admission to the residences will begin on September 1.
