• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 05 / 05 / 2011

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2011.05.04 - 15:28:31 /radiorebelde.icrt.cu. HAVANA, CUBA.- The number of 100-year-old people or older is gradually increasing in Cuba as a result of the social assistance provided by the Cuban government to that group age.

Dr. Eugenio Selman-Housein Abdo, founder of the Club for the 120-Year-Old, told ACN in 2009 there were 1,488 people in their hundreds in Cuba and in 2010 the figure grew to 1,551.

The Club inaugurated by the mid 2003, has members from Cuba and foreign countries and it is not exclusive to the elderly.

Humans can live up to 120 years and according to Dr. Selman-Housein Abdo in the case of Cubans, such longevity is the result of the government’s interest in assisting that group age and preserving social justice on equal grounds to every one.

However, the doctor noted that the government's will does not do it on its own, those wishing for a long life must also set themselves for it. He suggested that the most important thing is to keep physically and mentally active and maintain healthy eating habits, among other aspects.

Cuba’s average life expectancy is 78 years (80 for women and 76 for men; for that reason, every Cuban child, when born, becomes part of the 20% of the world population aspiring to get to that age, according to the digital magazine CubaAhora.

By 2050, when one fourth of the Latin American and Caribbean population is estimated to be older than 60, Cubans will top the list of aged countries of the region, according to Cuban specialists.(ACN)