Realities Of Socialism: Venezuelan Hospitals Continue To Plummet

Alissa Lopez | July 14, 2016
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The cause and current conditions of Venezuela’s economic failure take little to no precedence in the liberal media, which makes it easier for people to overlook the aftermath of the countries socialism disaster. One of the most tragic costs of implementing an unproductive economic plan is Venezuela’s shortage of medical supplies. Medical officials are struggling and are often incapable of caring for their patients, which has resulted in unwarranted deaths.

The New York Times reports:

Late last fall, the aging pumps that supplied water to the University of the Andes Hospital exploded. They were not repaired for months. 

So without water, gloves, soap or antibiotics, a group of surgeons prepared to remove an appendix that was about to burst, even though the operating room was still covered in another patient’s blood

On Thursday, CNN reported, “70 to 80% of the medicines children need in Venezuela haven’t arrived” at Caracas' pediatric hospital for months. And chances are, they won’t ever arrive. In a saddening video, two young boys in desperate need of cystic fibrosis and leukemia medication can’t be properly assisted. The video also shows a portion of the hospital remains destroyed from a fire that took place years ago. The ceilings in the intensive care unit are leaking and the walls are developing mold.

In Venezuelan hospitals, there is a lack of beds, operating rooms, and equipment. There is also a shortage of medication, including antibiotics, across the country.

In May, the New York Times shared the story of Rosa Parucho, a 68-year-old diabetic at the Luis Razetti Hospital in Barcelona who was could not receive kidney dialysis due to broken machines. An infection had spread to her feet, which were reportedly black when the New York Times reporter met her. Because Parucho was not able to receive the antibiotics she needed to treat her infection for months, her feet needed to be amputated.

Dr. Leandro Pérez of Luis Razetti Hospital told the New York Times, "Some come here healthy, and they leave dead." 

The New York Times also told the story of Samuel Castillo, a 21-year-old, who died because of the Venezuela healthcare system:

Samuel Castillo, 21, arrived in the emergency room needing blood. But supplies had run out. A holiday had been declared by the government to save electricity, and the blood bank took donations only on workdays. Mr. Castillo died that night

Hospital officials have even been arrested for stealing supplies. 

Additionally, the New York Times was told by Dr. Osleidy Camego, a surgeon in Caracas, “the death of a baby is our [the hospital's] daily bread.”

In Barcelona, two premature infants died on their way to a hospital because the ambulance had no oxygen tanks. The New York Times also reported that the death rate for children under a year old who are cared for in public hospital had increased more than a hundredfold, rising from 0.02% in 2012 to over 2% in 2015.

Individuals now turn to and rely on the black market in order to receive antibiotics. They claim:

When patients need treatment, the doctors hand relatives a list of medicines, solutions and other items needed to stabilize the patients or to perform surgery. Loved ones are then sent back the way they came to find black-market sellers who have the goods.

The New York Times reports in April, Luis Razetti Hospital in Barcelona reportedly arrested its director, Aquiles Martínez, for stealing machines used to treat individuals with respiratory illnesses along with 127 boxes of medicine. 

From food shortage, frequent blackouts, and everyday necessities like toilet paper becoming luxury items, socialism has once again failed a large body of people. So why is this ignored? People’s lives are in danger and their current president, Nicolas Maduro Moros, continues to live in denial about the failing health system. He undermined his fellow politicians and shut down a law that would have allowed the country to receive international humanitarian aid to boost the health care services.

President Maduro has stated, “I doubt that anywhere in the world, except in Cuba, there exists a better health system than this one." 

 

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