Cuba Ends 2011 with 4.9 Infant Mortality Rate

HAVANA TIMES, Jan 3 — Cuba reported a mortality rate of 4.9 per 1,000 live births in 2011, a period in which there were 5,317 more births were recorded than the previous year, reported Granma newspaper today.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Health, the province of Las Tunas achieved the lowest mortality rate in the country with a rate of 3.5, while seven other provinces showed levels below the national average.

Cuban health care policy has allowed the island to maintain an infant mortality rate below 5.0 for the past four years, placing the country together with Canada as the two countries with the lowest infant mortality rates in the Americas.