Venezuelan hospitals say shortages creating emergency
Caracas (AFP) - -------------
"We ask the national executive to declare a humanitarian emergency in the (health) sector in the face of the worsening shortages and irregular delivery of supplies, medicine, surgical materials, medical equipment and reserve supplies," said Carlos Rosales, head of the Venezuelan Association of Clinics and Hospitals (AVCH).
Venezuela imports 90 percent of its health supplies, and the sector has been hit hard by the strict foreign currency controls launched by late socialist president Hugo Chavez and continued by Maduro.
Despite being officially exempt from the controls -- which have opened a chasm between the official and black-market exchange rates -- medical and health supplies have been affected by the same mass shortages that have hit the rest of the economy.
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Importers estimate they are only able to access 40 percent of the required medicine and 15 percent of the required medical supplies.
http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelan-hospitals-shortages-creating-emergency-221222890.html