UN representative says that Cuba "remains a leader in health issues"

The regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Susana Sottoli, stated that Cuba "remains a leader in reproductive health and population issues."

This was stated this Tuesday in Havana, after being received by the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, who expressed gratitude for UNFPA's support "in these difficult times, which is manifested in different areas: demographic, advisory, and sexual and reproductive health, among others."

"Despite the challenges, Cuba remains a leader in reproductive health and population issues, and it is a great pleasure for us and always an honor to have Cuba voicing its support in these international forums," said Sottoli during his working visit.

The United Nations official is coming to celebrate Cuba's "leadership" in reproductive health and population issues, just as the country has been experiencing a decline in the number of births since 2011, and recorded the lowest birth rate in 60 years in 2023.

Only 90,300 births were recorded during the past year, 15,000 fewer than in 2020, when according to UN data, Cuba recorded 105,616 births.

The effects of the economic crisis and the mass exodus, primarily of young adults, present an increasingly critical scenario in the demographic dynamics of Cuba. The migration crisis experienced in Cuba since 2021, with the rush of nearly one million people, many of whom are young individuals fleeing misery and hopelessness, shapes the population landscape of Cuba.

In this regard, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz warned at the beginning of March about the "urgency of incorporating attention to demographic dynamics as a priority element in economic and social development strategies, at the territorial and local level," during a meeting of the government commission responsible for analyzing the demographic trends of the country.

Apparently, Sottoli also overlooked or interpreted differently the data indicating that in 2021 Cuba recorded the highest infant mortality rate in 20 years, according to the Directorate of Medical Records and Statistics of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). A total of 99,093 live births occurred on the island; five thousand 945 fewer than the previous year, resulting in an infant mortality rate of 7.6 per thousand live births.

The official's words did not mention variables such as uncontrolled inflation affecting the family economy of Cubans. Neither did growing poverty, the cost of living, the collapse of public services, food shortages, insecurity, and other factors that impact family planning and the motivation of Cubans to procreate on the Island appear in her speech.

Did the Cuban authorities inform Sottoli about the tragedy that occurred in mid-January 2023 at the Diez de Octubre Gyneco-Obstetric Hospital in Havana? Did the official know about the death of 10 babies due to a supposed infectious outbreak at this hospital?

According to the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP), the deaths of six of the newborns were due to "the presence of an infection outbreak associated with healthcare, in the neonatal intensive care unit" of the hospital.

The investigation by a National Commission "revealed that six of the 10 babies who died—two of them after the incident was reported on January 16—showed signs of sepsis with positive blood cultures for Gram-negative bacteria, and the others died due to other causes resulting from their fragile health condition."

Or the most recent case of Ester Lianet Asprón Rey, a two-year-old girl who is seriously ill due to the lack of a valve for hydrocephalus, does Sottoli know about it?

She is still hospitalized in Las Tunas, in case her "work visit" includes other scenarios beyond the Palace where Díaz-Canel wanders with his arm in a galactic sling (while Cubans suffer from pharmaceutical shortages, hospitals are overwhelmed, lacking medical supplies and in ruins, even using pieces of cardboard to cast broken bones).

Does Sottoli know about the case of Amanda Lemus Ortiz, the girl who had to undergo a liver transplant in Spain after the Cuban healthcare system practically abandoned her?

Is Cuba still a leader in health issues, Mrs. Sottoli? Have you read the investigative report titled Broken Births, which collects testimonies, statistics, and analyses from hundreds of women who claim to have been victims of obstetric violence in Cuba?

The list of problems facing the Cuban Public Health system would be endless, but the Cuban government continues to export doctors indiscriminately, while international organizations like UNFPA have staff members who applaud the propaganda discourse of a totalitarian regime that controls everything from statistics to narratives.

A regime that knows like few others how to turn “working visits” into government celebrations adorned with myths and legends about a “utopia” made real by a supposed “revolution.”