Havana, December 19 (RHC)--Public Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda says that despite the ordeal of COVID-19, the country had not neglected the Maternal and Infant Program.

Addressing on Sunday the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Health and Sports, he spoke about that program's performance. He stressed , that the epidemiological situation and the tightening of the blockade suffered by Cuba have hurt that sensitive sector.

Portal Miranda regretted the increase in the number of postpartum and pregnant women deaths during 2021, being the entry of the Delta variant into the country one of the factors that triggered the increase in fatalities, he said.

Up to December 13, 93,733 live births and 690 deaths were registered, for a mortality rate of 7.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, with 207 deaths more than in the same period of 2020.

There was a reduction of more than 5,000 births compared with the previous year.

The Public Health Minister added that the maternal mortality rate stood at 182.9 per 100,000 live births, with 171 deaths --130 more than in 2020--, a situation strongly marked by the context of the pandemic.