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
http://www.granma.cu
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