From our Bureau of Egregious Support for a Big Lie with some assistance from our Bureau of Latrine American Medical Powerhouses
A United Nations official who is obviously biased as well as willfully blind and deaf has just declared Cuba a world “leader” in medical care, despite the catastrophic collapse of Castro, Inc.’s shabby and inefficient healthcare system.
Incredible as this might seem, the UN official praised Cuba specifically for its leadership in reproductive health and population matters despite overwhelming evidence that the island’s birthrate is plummeting, the population is shrinking, infant mortality is skyrocketing, and elderly care is basically nonexistent. Lord have mercy.
Loosely translated from CiberCuba
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.”
She made this statement on Tuesday in Havana after being received by Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, who expressed his gratitude for UNFPA’s support “during these difficult times, manifested in various areas: demography, advisory services, and sexual and reproductive health, among others.”
“Despite the challenges, Cuba continues to lead in reproductive health and population issues, and it is always a pleasure and honor to have Cuba accompanying us with its voice in these international forums,” said Sottoli during her working visit.
The UN official came to celebrate Cuba’s “leadership” in reproductive health and population matters, even as the country has experienced a decline in births since 2011, with 2023 recording the lowest birth rate in 60 years.
Only 90,300 births were recorded last year, 15,000 fewer than in 2020, when, according to UN data, Cuba registered 105,616 births.
The effects of the economic crisis and the massive exodus, mainly of young adults, are leaving an increasingly critical demographic situation in Cuba. The migration crisis that Cuba has suffered since 2021, with nearly a million people fleeing, many of them young people escaping poverty and hopelessness, is shaping the country’s population landscape.
In this context, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz warned in early March of the “urgency of incorporating attention to demographic dynamics as a priority element in economic and social development strategies, at both territorial and local levels” during a meeting of the government commission tasked with analyzing the country’s demographic trends.
It seems that Sottoli either overlooked or interpreted differently the data indicating that Cuba recorded the highest infant mortality rate in 20 years in 2021, according to the Directorate of Medical Records and Statistics of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). In the country, 99,093 live births were registered—5,945 fewer than the previous year—resulting in an infant mortality rate of 7.6 per thousand live births.
The official’s remarks did not address variables such as the uncontrolled inflation affecting Cuban families’ economy, nor the growing poverty, rising cost of living, collapse of public services, food shortages, insecurity, and other factors influencing family planning and Cubans’ motivation to have children on the island.
Were Cuban authorities transparent with Sottoli about the tragedy that occurred in mid-January 2023 at the Diez de Octubre Gynecobstetric Hospital in Havana? Did she learn about the death of 10 babies due to a suspected infectious outbreak in this hospital?
According to Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), six of the newborns’ deaths were due to “an outbreak of infection associated with healthcare services in the neonatal intensive care unit” of the hospital.
A National Commission investigation “revealed that six of the 10 babies who died—two of them after the event was reported on January 16—showed signs of sepsis with positive blood cultures for Gram-negative bacteria, while the others died due to other causes related to their fragile health condition.”
Continue reading HERE in Spanish
Very simple, really. First consider her employer, which largely explains the matter. She’s from Argentina, but I expect far more like Bergoglio than like Milei, for whom I rather doubt she voted or supports. Then, of course, there’s the reality of miseria humana, which has been with us since the beginning, and I don’t mean human misery but miserableness, which is a quite different thing. In other words, shitty people happen.