Venezuelans can’t get even the most basic lifesaving medical supplies

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/29/venezuelans-cant-get-even-the-most-basic-lifesaving-medical-supplies/


Venezuela’s health care system, long a source of pride for the government, is in deep crisis. Thousands of patients cannot get essential medical treatments, and thousands more have been wait-listed for potentially life-saving surgery because doctors don’t have the materials they need to operate.
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On recent visits to Venezuela, Human Rights Watch found shortages of medications to treat pain, asthma, hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases, among others. Syringes, gauze and needles were in short supply, and even basic lab tests couldn’t be performed.----------------
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In March, Doctors for Health, a network of medical residents working in public hospitals all over the country, reported results from a survey of 130 public hospitals in 19 states that found that 44 percent of operating rooms were not operational and 94 percent of labs didn’t have the materials they needed to operate properly. They also found that 60 percent of routinely stocked medicines or medical supplies were entirely or partially unavailable in the hospitals, and that a majority of medicines included in the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines were not available in pharmacies.
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Venezuela does not have a strong pharmaceutical industry, so the country has to import most medications and medical supplies. Even for medications that are made locally, the raw materials often come from abroad. The government procures some medicines and supplies directly from other countries through bilateral agreements, including Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay and China, but it has not ensured that the public health care system has what it needs.

[Scootaloo]

1. Why does the phrase "Make the economy scream" come to my mind?

[Bacchus4.0]

2. not sure, the US is Venezuela's largest trading partner

How does that fact play into your conspiracy theory?

[Scootaloo]

3. I don't have a conspiracy theory.

Though it must be noted that what was done to Chile really was done to Chile.

I simply harbor doubts that the Maduro government can actually be so absolutely incompetent and backwards that all this is happening, so quickly. Even Zimbabwe took a couple decades to melt down to its current levels, and I'd definately rank Mugabe as higher on the "what the fuck?" list than Maduro.

Pair that with well-documented history of US behavior in Latin america and the recent and laughable declaration that Venezuela is a "National Security Threat," demanding sanctions and the like against it...

[COLGATE4]

4. Don't harbor doubts. The Maduro regime shines by virtue of

Last edited Wed May 27, 2015, 03:34 PM - Edit history (1)

its total complete and unrelenting incompetence. The Venezuelan economy began its deterioration with Chavez who milked the enormous funds coming in from the only source of revenue, petroleum by giving away untold millions in order to curry favor and prestige from other countries instead of investing in the national petroleum sector. The result is that oil production is down, equipment is in desperate need of replacement and the price of oil has dropped. His successor, a man of little talent has shown himself to be absolutely clueless in terms of knowing how to manage a one-trick economic pony like Venezuela and who comforts himself with ever-frequent diatribes against everybody and everything he imagines is at fault for the resulting economic collapse. One measure, the Venezuelan Bolivar, officially at 6.30 to the dollar now trades at over 400 for one dollar on the black market. This, along with all the other indicia of a collapsing economy - chronic shortages of consumer items, frequent electric blackouts, rising crime rate and an inflation rate beginning to look like the last days of the Weimar Republic -- are a direct result of knee-jerk, uninformed ideological-driven flailing around by those ostensibly governing the country. Maduro doesn't need foreign entities to 'make his economy scream' - he's managed to do it quite well all by himself.

[Bacchus4.0]

5. the problems didnt begin ith Maduro. many of the problems existed under Chavez

The medical sector being one of those problems. The collapse in oil has exacerbated supply problems and has brought hyper inflation.