Cuba's Health System

Fact Sheet

Indicators
Cuba Health Equity Snapshot
Cuba & the Region Selected Indicators

Selected Health Indicators: Cuba & United States

 

Indicator

Value

Total population

11,257,105

Infant and maternal health

 

Total live births

120,716

Percent of in-hospital live births

99.9

Crude birth rate (per 1,000 pop.)

10.7

Annual mean growth of population (per 1,000 pop)                                

.2

Fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-49)

39.9

Global fertility rate (children per woman)

1.46

Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)

5.3^

Under 5 mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)

8.0

Percent of surviving children at 5 years of age

99.2

Percent of underweight children under age 5

4*

Perinatal mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)

15.5

Infant mortality rate from acute respiratory infections (per 1,000 live births)

.4

Maternal mortality (per 100,000 live births)

52.2

Percent of children fully immunized against TB and measles

99*

Health workforce

 

Total number of physicians

70,594

Number of family physicians

33,769

Physicians (per 10,000 population)

62.7

Population covered by family physicians

99.4

Nurses (per 10,000 population)

79.5

Dentists (per 10,000 population)

9.4

Infrastructure

 

Percent of GDP spent on public health

6.3*

Total number of hospitals

248

Total number of polyclinics

470

Total number of maternity homes

289

Medical care beds

54,857

Social service beds

14,650

Medical care beds (per 1,000 population)

4.9

Social service beds (per 1,000 population)

1.3

Medical Education (2006-2007)**

 

Medicine enrollment  – Cuban students

25,728

Nursing enrollment – Cuban students

35,483

Dentistry enrollment – Cuban students

4,266


Allied Health Sciences enrollment – Cuban students

67,472

Medicine enrollment – Foreign students

21,863***

Nursing enrollment – Foreign students

120

Dentistry enrollment – Foreign students

62

Allied Health Sciences enrollment – Foreign students

776

Health Picture

 

Life expectancy at birth – both sexes

77.6*

Life expectancy at birth – men

75.8*

Life expectancy at birth – women

79.5*

Percent of population undernourished

<0.5+

Dietary energy supply (kcal/person/day)

3,190

Mortality rate from infectious and parasitic diseases (per 100,000 pop)

8.1

Percent of infectious and parasitic diseases of total number of deaths

1.1

HIV prevalence

<0.2%*

Percent of population with access to potable water

95.6

Leading Causes of Death, rate per 100,000

 

Heart disease

197.4

Malignant tumors

168.4

Cerebrovascular disease

78.1

Influenza and pneumonia

64.4

Accidents

39.5

Arterial and capillary vascular disease

28.6

Chronic respiratory disease

26.7

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

21.5

Diabetes mellitus

17.6

Self-inflicted wounds

12.2

# of health professionals who have volunteered abroad since 1960
100,000^

Source: MINSAP, Health Statistics Yearbook, 2005, except where noted.    
^MINSAP, Annual Health Statistics, 2006    
*UNDP Human Development Report 2006
**Vice Ministry for Medical Education, Ministry of Public Health, Havana
***December, 2006. Viceministry for Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Havana.
+FAO, Food Balance Sheets
^This is 100,000 health professional years, since some professionals may have volunteered more than once.

Cuba Health Equity Snapshot

Province

Infant mortality per 1,000 live births

Maternal mortality per 100,000 live births

Under 5 mortality  per 1,000 live births

Physicians per 10,000 inhabitants

Nurses per 10,000 inhabitants

Pinar del Río

5.0

60.4

7.2

50.0

97.5

Havana*

6.1

13.3

8.1

40.5

71.5

Havana City

4.9

70.1

8.1

98.1

81.0

Matanzas

4.4

59.7

5.8

55.0

69.4

Villa Clara

4.6

12.9

5.0

60.4

75.2

Cienfuegos

5.7

69.6

8.6

57.9

89.7

Sancti Spíritus

6.8

42.5

8.7

59.2

79.9

Ciego de Ávila

9.0

22.4

7.4

59.1

77.3

Camagüey

4.3

72.5

10.6

58.1

82.4

Las Tunas

4.7

34.7

8.2

48.1

74.4

Holguín

3.8

32.4

5.7

50.3

70.0

Granma

4.4

79.0

9.0

46.7

90.6

Santiago de Cuba

7.9

63.3

9.2

66.4

74.1

Guantánamo

4.8

59.2

11.0

51.8

82.3

Isla de la Juventud

7.3

60.4

6.4

54.3

93.7

TOTAL

5.3

52.2

8.0

62.7

79.5

Source: MINSAP, Annual Health Statistics, 2005, except for infant mortality figures which are for 2006.
*Havana Province is on the outskirts of Havana City Province, and its population is served by institutions in both provinces.

Cuba & The Region, Selected Indicators

Region

Infant mortality per 1,000 live births

Under 5 mortality per 1,000 live births

Life Expectancy Male

Life Expectancy Female

Life Expectancy Both Sexes

Caribbean

22

33.4

66.9

71.7

69.3

Latin America

22

27.7

70.3

76.4

73.3

United States

7

8

75

80.4

77.7

Cuba

5.3

8

75.8

79.5

77.6

Source: UNFPA, State of World Population, 2006, except for Cuba: UNDP Human Development Index 2006 & MINSAP, Annual Health Statistics, 2005 & 2006

Selected Health Indicators: Cuba & the United States

 INDICATOR

CUBA

UNITED STATES

Life expectancy

77.6

77.8

Physicians
(per 10,000 inhabitants)

62.7

26.3

Nurses
(per 10,000 inhabitants)

78.9

79.5

% births attended by skilled health personnel

99.9

99

Infant mortality rate
(per 1,000 live births)

5.3

6.8

Maternal mortality rate
(per 100,000 live births)

49.4

13.1

% of one-year olds immunized with DPT3

99

96

Deaths due to HIV/AIDS
(per 100,000 inhabitants, annually)

1

5

HIV prevalence among adults 15+
(per 100,000)

52

508

General government expenditure on health
as percentage of total expenditure on health
for 2004**

87.8

44.7

Top three causes of death

Diseases of the heart; malignant tumors; cerebrovascular disease

Diseases of the heart; malignant tumors; cerebrovascular disease

Source for Cuba indicators:  Annual Health Statistics Yearbook, 2006. National Health Statistics Bureau.
Havana: 2007.

Source for US indicators:  Health, United States, 2006. National Center for Health Statistics. Hyattsville,
MD: 2006.

 

**WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS)

Cuba Statistics

United States Statistics 

These charts are open access and available for free download, replication, and distribution with the following attribution: Copyright MEDICC (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba), July 2007.

 

©MEDICC, 2007

Directed by Connie Field - Produced by Connie Field, Gail Reed - Edited by Rhonda Collins - Cinematography by Vicente Franco Associate Producer Jennifer Ho - Executive Producers Peter Bourne, C. William Keck, Gail Reed
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