[The epidemiology of cerebrovascular disease in Cuba]

OBJECTIVE AND DEVELOPMENT: We present a synopsis of some of the main achievements of the Cuban Public Health Service in the past 39 years. We emphasize the importance of cerebrovascular disease as a cause of mortality, both in Cuba and in certain selected provinces, together with its relationship with some parameters such as age group. In the second part, we show the main results of a longitudinal or cohort study carried out in the town of Cienfuegos in Cuba. In this the importance of age as a statistically significant risk marker for the development of cerebrovascular disease is clearly seen. We also present the rate of incidence depending on exposure to risk markers, and the estimated number of new cases annually of cerebrovascular disease according to age group and gender in the town of Cienfuegos. We emphasize the need for our Public Health System to continue to deal with this disorder in an integrated manner.