UNICEF: Cuba free
of severe child malnutrition
THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has
confirmed that Cuba is the only country in Latin
America and the Caribbean to have eliminated acute
child malnutrition, thanks to the efforts of its
government.
In
its report "Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal
Nutrition," quoted by the Cubadebate website, UNICEF
says that some 146 million children under 5 in the
underdeveloped world live in a state of wasting
levels of malnutrition, in contrast to the reality
of Cuban children.
In that respect, the reports says that the
percentages of underweight children are 28% in Sub-Saharan
Africa; 17% in the Middle East and North Africa; 15%
in East Asia and the Pacific, and 7% in Latin
America and the Caribbean. The picture is completed
by Central and Eastern Europe, with 5%, and other
underdeveloped countries with 27%.
Cuba, however, does not present problems of acute
child malnutrition, thanks to the efforts of the
state to improve the alimentation of its population,
especially the most vulnerable groups.
To the country’s satisfaction, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) has likewise
recognized that Cuba is the nation with the most
advances in Latin America in fighting malnutrition.
The Cubadebate article added, nevertheless, that
Cuba is not exempt from shortcomings, difficulties
and serious limitations, fundamentally because of
the economic, commercial and financial blockade
imposed by the United States during the last 50
years. (AIN)
Translated by Granma International
