There are 24,000 Cuban doctors on “international missions” and 32,000 who emigrated from the Island this year
14ymedio, Madrid, 30 December 2024 — This year 703 fewer children were born in Cienfuegos than last year, the provincial newspaper 5 de Septiembre published this Sunday in a very short report. It expresses concern about the province’s low birth rate, which is among the worst in the country.
The data are confusing, however, since the media points out that in 2024 2,127 cienfuegueros arrived in the world, but the demographic yearbook indicates that in 2023 there were 2,895, a difference of 768. In any case, taking the gross numbers for granted, the drop in births is 26.5%, well above the average that was offered for the Island with the data of the first semester.
In the middle of the year, in the ordinary session held by Parliament in July, Catherine Chibás Pérez, national head of the Maternal and Child Program (Pami) indicated that in the first six months of 2024, 34,648 live births were recorded throughout the country, 19% less than in the same period of the previous year. On that date, there were 8,157 fewer births in Cuba than in the same period of 2023.
“For 2025, work is already underway to increase birth rates and thus achieve the replacement that society needs”
“For 2025, work is already underway to increase birth rates and thus achieve the replacement that Cuban society needs, which is noticeable in the demographics of difficult times in the face of the phenomenon of emigration,” says the newspaper, without specifying what measures are expected to stimulate the birth rate in the midst of a galloping economic crisis and with the massive emigration of people of childbearing age.
The information appears on the same day that the Latin American edition of the leftist American magazine Jacobin publishes an interview with Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he openly talks about the problem posed by the lethal combination of the Island’s demographics.
“Cuba resembles European countries in terms of social development. Advances in education, professional opportunities for women and women’s rights in general have an impact on the reduction of fertility rates,” the senior official said in response to a question about the decrease in young adults in Cuba.
“However, we have practically no immigration and emigration is relatively high,” he says. Labelling this ‘relative’ is surprising, when the Island has lost 18% of its population in the last two years according to official data. In the United States alone, in the last fiscal year, from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 217,615 Cubans arrived. The US Customs and Border Protection Office counts 860,000 Cuban migrants who entered in the last four years. To this must be added thousands of migrants to other countries, mainly Spain.
“Does this put the continuity of the social security network in imminent danger?” asks the interviewer. To this, Fernández de Cossío responds bluntly: “It puts it in danger, yes. I wouldn’t say that it leaves it on the verge of collapse, but it puts it in tension.” Next, the deputy minister strives to argue that many of those who appear as emigrants are not really emigrants, but temporarily reside outside Cuba. “Some go and work part-time in the United States or other countries and return,” he says.
The official rejects the argument, raised by the journalist, of whether the Island is more like other Latin American countries due to its high emigration
In addition, the official rejects the argument, raised by the journalist, of whether the Island is already more like other Latin American countries due to its high emigration – although Cuba has been expelling population for 60 years – and affirms that this happens because the United States stimulates the exodus with its legislation.
In the interview, Fernández de Cossío also provides official data for the doctors who are abroad. He defends them abundantly for their solidarity, because – he maintains – they only receive compensation “in the case of economies greater or better than the Cuban one.” “If any institution in the world provided vital services,” he says, “an administrative expense of, let’s say, 30% would be needed to cover the services. But when the Cuban government does it, it is called ‘slavery’.”
He places the number of doctors on “international missions” at 24,000, doctors needed on the Island, where the Maternal and Child Care Program (Pami) has been suffering for years from the lack of professionals. To them should be added the 32,000 doctors that, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and Information, Cuba has lost this year. The 5 de Septiembre report speaks of an improvement in the data of recent years, for example in the low birth weight index of 6.3%, where there were 30 cases fewer than in 2023.
Last week, the Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, announced the improvement of the infant mortality data, which stood at 7 per thousand for all of Cuba, excluding the data by provinces, where recent abysmal differences are seen. In 2023, the rate had already improved slightly compared to the pandemic years, which led to catastrophic data.
Last year the rate was 7.1 deaths per thousand live births, compared to 7.5 per thousand in 2022 and 7.6 in 2021. However, in 2018 there were barely 3.9 per thousand, so the indicator, while good in relation to the surrounding countries, has worsened significantly. Although the pandemic aggravated the situation, in the case of Cuba there are key elements, as experts have highlighted: the lack of professionals due to the exodus – both abroad and to the private sector – and the disinvestment in the Pami, which for decades had enviable figures for a Latin American country.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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