Without the right to health.The Inter -American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) demanded that Venezuela last Wednesday, February 1, guarantee and respect the right to health of its citizens.In a statement, the agency made an "radiography" of the health crisis that Venezuelans are going through regardless of the pathology they suffer.
The diagnosis is negative: there is no access to medications, there is no treatment for chronic patients, there are no reagents for blood tests and diseases that were eradicated have advanced in different states of the country.
In the statement, the commission indicates that it has received constant information that denounces the lack of access to medicines and treatments in Venezuela.The percentage of shortage for basic medicines to treat diabetes, hypertension, respiratory infections and diarrhea exceeds 80%.
In 2017, insulin shortages for diabetics became absolute and left patients at a crossroads.“The scarcity of diabetics medicines has been progressive since 2016 and has been progressive;But since January and February 2017 it has become exaggerated, ”denounced the president of the National Federation of Associations and Diabetes Units (Fenadiabetes), María Suniaga.
The situation of seropositive patients is also critical.The IACHR reported that the scarcity of antiretrovirals in hospitals in the country is around 95% and that the shortage of medicines to treat opportunistic infections that attack people with HIV/AIDS is 85%.
"This has meant that failures of up to a period of 6 continuous months have been reported without receiving the indicated treatment scheme, generating an estimated 5 people who are killed per day for related causes" to AIDS, reports the international body.
Another point that sees with special concern the IACHR is the deficit of serological reagents and supplies used to rule out the presence of diseases such as Hepatitis C or syphilis to blood donations.Blood banks from all over the country have reported failures since last year.However, it was nothing but in mid -December 2017 that the crisis became sharpened.
Dr. Maribel Meléndez, General Secretary of the Venezuelan Society of Hematology and member of the Cooperative Group of Transfusion Medicine estimates that about 70% of the public and private sector's blood banks are in crisis due to the lack of reagents.
The IACHR warns that this context is aggravated by the reappearance of already eradicated diseases, such as diphtheria or malaria, both qualified as “epidemics” by the network we defend the national epidemiologist and the Venezuelan Society of Public Health.
On January 29 there was a death of a child for diphtheria in the main pediatric hospital in the country, José Manuel de los Ríos.Malaria is "installed" at least since July 2017, when there was an important case income to the hospital.To this are added other diseases, such as measles, which has also reappeared after its eradication 15 years ago.
In December of last year, the coalition of organizations for the right to health and life (Codevida) developed a mechanism of humanitarian aid to enter medicines, vaccines and medical supplies to the country.The proposal was presented to the Government in the framework of negotiation meetings in the Dominican Republic.However, Chavismo has not implemented any measure to solve the crisis.
The IACHR showed its concern to the government's refusal about receiving international help and pointed out that the absence of official data evidences "the lack of will of Venezuela" to guarantee the right to health to its citizens.They also pointed out that this hinders the population's access to medicines and food.
The organismInternational ends the statement with an invitation to the Venezuelan State to publish updated information and set a possible visit to the national territory to “evaluate the exercise of human rights in its integrality”.
