http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/diciembre/juev24/UNICEF.html
Havana. December 24, 2009
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
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