![]() ![]() While in 2010 almost 10 percent of the national budget was allocated to healthcare, this figure had dropped to 5.8 percent by 2014. Throughout the crisis, Maduro’s government has increasingly neglected healthcare costs. However, Venezuela’s hospitals and other medical facilities are constantly understaffed and underfunded. In a state where hunger and oppression prevail, hospitals must work overtime to cope with the increased incidence of poor health. However, it is hardly the only crisis the Venezuelan healthcare system is facing. The lack of access to medical supplies poses an ever-increasing threat to the entire country. Additionally, Feo Istúriz (2017) highlights how often the medicines individuals pursue and may obtain are not actually the needed intervention. The death in 2018 of Marcos Carvajal, a former professional baseball player, to pneumonia due to a lack of antibiotics illuminated this reality (Raphelson, 2018). This shortage affects the entire Venezuelan population, not just the poor. Raphelson (2018) estimated a 90 percent deficit of medicine available in 2018, and this figure has likely only increased in the last year. Additionally, in Venezuela it has become increasingly difficult to gain access to contraception (Albaladejo, 2018). Since 2014 there have been shortages of “insulin, painkillers like aspirin, bandages, anesthetics, surgery tools, gloves, and antibiotics” (Jung, 2018). While this hyperinflation of medical expenses certainly burdens the Venezuelan population, the absolute lack of medicine is even more troubling. Stevens (2017) notes that a bottle of saline solution used for sterilization and cleaning that would normally cost US$1 costs US$200 on the black market in Venezuela. ![]() Most patients must resort to the black market for medical supplies, as pharmacies and medical clinics are no longer able to stock these resources. This has resulted in both inflation of the price of medicine available, and the majority of the population unable to access their basic healthcare needs. Venezuela lacks medical equipment, including medicine. As Venezuelan Oscar Feo Istúriz (2017) writes “.despite the advances which we can highlight from the last eighteen years, we must admit that the health situation in Venezuela is a disaster.” Yet in less than a decade, Venezuela's reputation and health infrastructure has rapidly crumbled. In subsequent years, Venezuela became known for its superior health system (Briggs & Mantini-Briggs, 2009 Carrillo Roa, 2018). These initiatives demonstrated a strengthening of health in Venezuela and a movement towards social medicine. Within these changes, Venezuela centralized healthcare under government institutions, increased cooperation across different sectors within medicine, and improved access to care in poor communities (Carrillo Roa, 2018 Cueto & Palmer, 2015). In the early 2000’s, under Chavez’s rule, Venezuela underwent large healthcare reforms, mostly centered around "Misión Barrio Adentro," or MBA (Cueto & Palmer, 2015). The Venezuelan health crisis is perhaps most surprising due to the country’s recent history of radical improvements in health infrastructure and medicine. Additionally, the crippling healthcare system has posed its own crisis on today’s population, between the lack of medical equipment and medical officials abandoning their posts, demonstrating the devastating effect that a socio-political conflict can have on a population’s health. Jung (2018) reports that the average Venezuelan in poverty from 2014 to 2018 lost 18 pounds. Hyperinflation has resulted in food shortages and inadequate government food rationing (Stevens, 2017). Yet the greatest threat to modern Venezuelans is malnutrition. However, in recent years violence has only escalated, reaching international attention as President Maduro continues to restrict public protesting. Experts report that prior to August of 2017, the political conflict alone had left about 70 dead and more than 1000 injured (Bello, 2017). From economic collapse from inflation, to disputed election results and debate around foreign intervention, Venezuela has become known globally as a country in crisis. Venezuela, which prior to 2014 was often regarded as one of Latin America’s most developed countries, in recent years has faced a devastating economic and political crisis.
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