Cuba

Background

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This map does not reflect a position by UNICEF on the legal status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers.

Cuba is on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 despite having suffered several major recent hurricanes and a devastating drought in its eastern provinces. A tightening of the trade embargo against Cuba has limited shipments of money, food and medicine, impacting infant and maternal mortality rates.

Issues facing children in Cuba

• Iron deficiency is high among pregnant women and children under two years old. In the eastern provinces, approximately one third of children under age two suffer from anaemia. Cuba has one of the highest rates of obesity among pre-school children in Latin America.
• HIV/AIDS incidence is low and declining. Children represent less than 1 per cent of all AIDS cases. 
• Accidental death, for example from traffic accidents or drowning, is the leading cause of childhood mortality. 
• Sanitation coverage is above 98 per cent nationally, while access to clean water stands at 95 per cent in urban areas and 78 per cent in rural areas. 
• School enrolment rates are above 95 per cent (net), and 99 per cent of children reach the fifth grade or beyond.

Activities and results for children

• In the drought-hit eastern provinces, UNICEF and the World Food Programme distributed food and improved water delivery for 200,000 women and 500,000 children. Refrigerators and water-conservation devices helped increase food supplies for 6,000 children in Holguin province and for nearly 3,000 children in Granma province.
• UNICEF and its partners procured 100,000 doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, bringing national immunization coverage above 98 per cent. Iron-fortified fruit puree was distributed to 300,000 children at risk of anaemia. 
• With help from UNICEF, Cuba has eliminated iodine-deficiency disorders by iodizing all salt. 
• UNICEF and several other UN agencies sponsored a diploma course to train local providers in nutrition, accident prevention and domestic relations counselling. 
• A strategy to improve the quality of education in rural districts has benefited more than 150,000 students in more than 4,000 primary schools. Delivery of basic supplies improved the learning environment for 4,000 students in the eastern provinces. 
• UNICEF provided all of Cuba’s public libraries with a selection of books for children and young people.