For the fourth consecutive year, Cuba maintained its infant mortality rate under 5.0 as it finished 2011 with 4.9 deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births.

An article published by Granma newspaper on Tuesday reveals that in 17 out of the country’s 168 municipalities the infant mortality rate last year was 0.0. The lowest rate in 2011 was registered in Las Tunas province with 3.5, while six other provinces ended the year with figures under the national average. They were Artemisa (3.9), Pinar del Rio (4.0), Holguin (4.0), Havana (4.3), Ciego de Avila (4.4) and Granma (4.4).

According to data offered to Granma newspaper by the Head Office of Statistics of the Ministry of Public Health, the number of births reported in 2011 increased in 5,317 compared to 2010.

The article points out that, in spite of Washington’s almost 50-year-old economic blockade of the Caribbean nation, Cuba has the lowest infant mortality rate of the Americas, along with Canada.

The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births. It is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country. The infant mortality rate of the world is 49.4 according to the United Nations.

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