Being sick is a luxury

Although it may seem ironic, getting sick or dying in Venezuela is a true luxury. We do not have hospitals with supplies, medicines are very expensive, there are no professionals or equipment to meet the needs of the population, and more people get sick every day with no hope of healing. What can be done but wait for death?

Public hospitals have always been the first alternative to receive medical care. For some time our hospitals have had exemplary health professionals, who have kept us free from any disease or abnormality.  However, now everything is very different, the public health sector has suffered the effects of the mismanagement of socialism, causing the total decline of health care in the country.

The vast majority of hospital buildings are in disrepair and many have had to reduce the use of their facilities to just a small area due to lack of maintenance. Laboratories and operating rooms are contaminated due to lack of cleanliness as there is no water or nor cleaning products to disinfect work equipment and tools. It is normal to hear that a patient died of infection during an operation. Utensils and work equipment are so worn and outdated that doctors and nurses must figure out how to care for patients with what little they have.  From suturing wounds without local anesthesia to operating without electricity in the operating room. It is normal to enter a hospital and see the sick lying on the floor for lack of stretcher, wheelchairs, and walkers.  Family members cleaning up vomit or excrement of their patients because the toilets do not work.

Transfers to other locations are a real problem because ambulances are no longer they exist in hospitals since they have deteriorated over time and there is no one to buy spare parts to fix them, so the relatives must find the means to transfer their sick even if they have the disease or problem.  On the other hand, supplies are very limited, there are no medicines of any kind or in hospitals or drugstores. The patient must take everything to the consultation or operation be it cotton, alcohol, gauze, plaster, injector, medications, blood pressure monitor, surgery kit, in short, everything that the doctor requires to treat you.

In Venezuela, there are still private clinics that offer excellent attention, in addition to having all the instruments, good facilities, and extensive equipment of professionals to treat any illness. Whoever is assisted in a private clinic can be sure of obtaining a solution to their health problems, but imagine how much a clinic like this charges for their services? Who in Venezuela can use them? I assure you it will be a very small exclusive group.  The basic service in a private clinic ranges from $ 300 to $ 450 per day, which is an amount that exceeds the salary of any worker for 10 years or more. So there are few people who have enough money to be treated in a clinic. 

I applaud the few healthcare professionals who are still struggling to keep our brothers and sisters alive, I have seen them sacrifice their time for a miserable salary, also cry for the death of a person they did not know, and give of their little money to who else needs to. I also admire those who are subject to a terminal illness, such as cancer, diabetes, or AIDS who are still struggling to stay alive, taking the minimal medicines that fit they can afford, and opting for natural medicines that do not have the same effect. It is a reality that we cannot change, in Venezuela, many people die daily due to lack of medicines and medical attention, contracting a virus or disease is a death sentence.

Daniel Moreno