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 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.