The first 1000 days of life constitute a short and exceptionally important period when the foundation is established for children’s growth, development and lifelong health. Cuba has a comprehensive care system for this population that aims to promote the best start in life so that children can reach their highest development potential. This is carried out through the national public health and education systems and also includes elements of health protection, prevention of harm and disease and social welfare for children. Cuba’s infant mortality rate has remained <5 deaths per 1000 live births for 10 consecutive years, and in 2017 reached 4 per 1000, the lowest rate to date. The mortality rate for children aged <5 years in 2017 was 5.5 per 1000 live births, with a survival rate of 99.5%; low birth weight was 5.1% and vaccination coverage >95%. Among children aged 1 year in Cuba’s Educate Your Child program in 2014, >90% met age-specific indicators in all four developmental domains (intellectual, motor, socioaffective and language). Cuba has universal coverage for antenatal care and, in 2017, 99.9% of births occurred in health institutions. All working mothers receive paid antenatal leave from 34 weeks of gestation, continued through the child’s first year, to facilitate breastfeeding and child care. In 2018, the Cuban government allocated 27% of its national budget to health and social welfare and 21% to education.

In the Middle Age, children were treated as small adults. As of Renassaince, more interest on childhood was aroused. In 1722, the term Pediatrics appears in Central Europe, and in 1865 for the first time the term Puericulture was coined by Alfred Pierre Caron, professor at the University of Paris. The puericulture service in Cuba in the first half of the 20th century was a sort of luxury. After 1959, the unique health system and the total coverage of primary health care managed to set pediatric (1960) and puericulture (1963) services in polyclinics. The new approach to the preventive-healing medical practice had an impact on the development of puericulture with programs such as comprehensive care to the child and the woman, the standardization of specialties, the reduction of infant mortality, the evaluation of health indicators in the Cuban 0-19 years old population, the classification of the health conditions of children and adolescents, prenatal puericulture as well as the evaluation of "Friends of the mother and the child hospitals and polyclinics". In 2004, a multidisciplinary group was created to rescue the quality of the puericultural service and the National Center of Reference of Puericulture was opened up in 2007 which carries out teaching, research, assistance-methodological and administrative functions. The information search through Infomed and Internet, visits to specialized libraries and to the office of the historian of the Ministry of Public Health about how puericulture was introduced in Cuba shows surprising aspects.

En la Edad Media los niños eran tratados como adultos pequeños. A partir del Renacimiento surge mayor interés en la infancia. En 1722 aparece el término Pediatría en la Europa Central, y en 1865, por primera vez, es acuñado el término Puericultura por Alfred Pierre Caron, profesor en la Universidad de París. Realizar consultas de Puericultura en la primera mitad del siglo XX en Cuba era prácticamente un lujo. Con el sistema único de salud y cobertura total de la atención primaria a partir de 1959, se lograron establecer consultas de Pediatría (1960) y Puericultura (1963) en los policlínicos. El nuevo enfoque de la práctica médica preventivo-curativa influyó en el desarrollo de la Puericultura, con programas como: Atención integral al niño y la mujer, la normación de las especialidades, la reducción de la mortalidad infantil, la medición de indicadores de salud en la población cubana de 0 a 19 años, la dispensarización de niños y adolescentes, Puericultura prenatal, así como la evaluación de "Hospitales y policlínicos Amigos de la madre y el niño". En 2004 fue creado un grupo multidisciplinario para el rescate de la calidad de las consultas de Puericultura, y se inauguró el Centro de Referencia Nacional de Puericultura en el año 2007, con funciones docentes, de investigación, asistenciales-metodológicas y administrativas. Sorprende la búsqueda de cómo se introdujo en Cuba la Puericultura, a través de Infomed e Internet, visitas a bibliotecas especializadas y la Oficina del Historiador del Ministerio de Salud Pública.

High Education Centers have worked in order to promote culture, mainly medical culture, the one that creates and preserves Medical University. Experiences related to the Department of Extracurricular Activities were recorded during 6 years of work in Medical Sciences Institutions. Participations of students, professors, workers were not only in the institutions but also in all teaching activities and in tasks developed in medical and nursing specialties are remarked. Ways of planning the actions of extracurricular activities are established taking into account the performance of the year committees, as well as its significance in all_round education of the future doctors and nurses. Aspects related to the aim of obtaining a better work are pointed out, and pertinence of Educative Project is emphasized.

Los centros de educación superior han trabajado en función de promover la cultura y fundamentalmente la cultura médica que es la que crea y preserva la Universidad Médica. Por ello se exponen las experiencias de 6 años de trabajo en los centros de Ciencias Médicas en las actividades relacionadas con la Extensión Universitaria. Se destaca la importancia de la participación de estudiantes, profesores y trabajadores, no solo en la institución sino también en todas las áreas docentes asistenciales tanto en las especialidades de Medicina como en Licenciatura en Enfermería. En cuyo trabajo se precisan las vías, teniendo en cuenta la participación de comités horizontales, para una correcta planeación de las acciones de extensión así como la importancia de las mismas en relación con la formación multifacética de futuro egresado en ambas especialidades. Se señalan los aspectos sobre los cuales se debe seguir trabajando para alcanzar mejores resultados. Se enfatiza la importancia del proyecto educativo.