At present, there is a shortage of 80% of reagents used in specialized tests such as thyroid hormones, prostate antigen or tumor markers for those who had cancer. The costs of routine prostate antigen testing to rule out prostate cancer in men aged 50 and above will increase from USD 1,182 to USD 5,902. Due to excessive costs, many Venezuelans would not go for preventative tests.

Ideally, every year Venezuelans need to have tests that costs between USD 1,182 and USD 2,939. The coagulation tests that must be performed for any patient undergoing surgery are not free in hospitals and in the private sector the minimum cost is USD 2,939. The union of bioanalysts stated that due to rising costs rigorous analysis required for identifying contagion of diseases in blood supplied for transfusions are neglected.

Analysis of samples of blood transfusions done in the last year reflected that the number of samples contaminated with HIV, Chagas, hepatitis or syphilis remains the same. The Municipal Bank of Blood of the Capital District, which is responsible for carrying out tests of blood samples coming from various hospitals has a limited supply of reagents. In these hospitals, they are making use of these reagents such that they are being used only for the important cases, in the intention that reagents will last longer.

El-nacional

Many people appeal to international donations, for which many NGOs have been mobilized, to exchange or purchase medicines on the black market as alternatives. The NGO “A Medicine for Venezuela” is one of those organizations that collects medicines to help patients trapped without treatment. The organization sends the medicines through local companies that must draw a series of obstacles at the end of which is SENIAT, the Venezuelan customs authority. It prohibits private transportation of medicines and food, in addition to prohibiting corruption in customs. Once the numerous barriers are overcome, the help network must be careful not to attract attention to large storage areas for pain medicines as a they may be accused of hoarding drugs or contraband. The Venezuelan NGO “Codevida” oversees the distribution on the ground by means of a telephone drugstore. The pharmacy went from receiving 300 calls a month in 2016 to 5,000 this year. Codevida gathers information on the most demanded medicines, including those needed for organ transplant operations, analgesics for terminals, drugs for multiple sclerosis, hepatitis. In the process, there is a base of 30 fixed volunteers who manage the donations, most of which are processed by the Facebook page or with contributions from laboratories and pharmacies.

The experts of the Venezuelan Society of Cardiology have coordinated a survey about the 43 main health centers of focused on the endowment to treat cardiovascular diseases. 75% of hospitals had no aspirin, an essential drug for the treatment of heart disease. Patients with heart attacks are being treated as they were 40 years ago, when the incidence of deaths for this reason reached 15%. The government has not released mortality figures since 2013. That makes it difficult to know the real dimensions of the crisis.

The Venezuelan Society of Public Health and the Network Defend National Epidemiology warned about the proliferation of reports of malaria or malaria in the country in recent weeks. They pointed out that provisional figures from official sources – not disclosed – reveal that up to July 10 in the state of Bolívar the number of new cases, accumulated to 117,209.

As of March 4, the cases were 36,877, so in 18 weeks the increase of 217.8% was observed. For more than three months, the Ministry of Health has not made the epidemiological information public, including data on malaria. This has not prevented doctors from reporting a rebound in diagnoses: only in the Ruiz and Páez hospital in Ciudad Bolívar, there were 17 pregnant women suffering from the disease.

The organizations stated that there are no precise figures on the number of deaths due to malaria at the national level, but in Bolívar there were 56 reported deaths due to malaria (until July 10), approximately 30% more than last year in the same period. Preliminary calculations of these associations indicate that the number of indigenous cases accumulated in Bolívar during 2017 will be between 200,000 and 250,000, which would mean an increase between 22,000 and 72,000 cases when compared with 2016. In the rest of the country, they project that the number of new cases in 2017 will be between 100,000 and 150,000.

El-nacional

According to the Health Commission of the National Assembly of Venezuela, the health system collapsed because of non-functional diagnostic medical equipment that includes 90% of the CT scanners, mammographs, resonators, and laboratories in public hospitals subsequently leading to poor diagnosis and treatment.

A report from the National Assembly shows that 51% of the operating rooms in Venezuela are not operational leading to a waiting list at the public assistance centers. Highest number of deaths occurred in Zulia state with 1,409 cases; Carabobo 928; Aragua 888; Bolivar 802 and Capital District with 735 deaths.

Lack of food supply in the hospitals is another reason for deplorable patient conditions. According to data published, the infant mortality rate (due to lack of milk formula in the pediatric units) increased by 30% during 2016, leading to a total of approximately 11,500 deaths, reflecting the severity of the Venezuelan crisis.

Other reasons that further aggravate the situation in both public and private facilities are the shortage of funds to import medical equipment and maintain it.

Elnuevoherald

The Venezuelan Society of Childhood and Pediatrics (SVPP) revealed the statistics of vaccine deficits in the country. Infants in Venezuela have not received pneumococcal vaccine in the last two years and chicken pox vaccine from the last three years. Only 50% of diphtheria vaccines were available in the Bolivar state when the minimum required is 90%.

Furthermore, there is dearth for yellow fever and BCG vaccine. Venezuela is in deplorable condition in relation to preventive health and urges the authorities to update the stock of vaccines in quantity, quality and regularity. The authorities also requested the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to ensure vigilance on the issue. There is lack of supply of pentavalent vaccines, rotavirus and diphtheria toxoid at national level and there is a need to update the immunization scheme for the inclusion of varicella and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines.