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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Doctors in Venezuela: Universal Health Care System in Collapse

7 Nov 2013

Government mismanagement and currency controls set by late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez are being blamed for a collapse of the country’s health care system.  According to the Associated Press, with the Venezuelan government controlling the dollars needed to purchase medical supplies, medical care is becoming increasingly rare. Doctors sent home cancer patients last month when supply shortages and overtaxed equipment made it impossible for them to perform surgeries considered to be “non-emergency” in nature.

“I feel like I’ve been abandoned,” said Evelina Gonzalez, who was supposed to undergo cancer surgery in July following chemotherapy. Gonzalez ended up moving around from one hospital to another in search of an available operating table. Her left breast showed a dark tumor – now doubled in size – bulging through her spandex tank top. Gonzalez’ right eye is also swollen by glaucoma – diagnosed two years ago – but left untreated because she could not obtain a doctor’s appointment.

Gonzalez is on a list of 31 breast cancer patients waiting to have surgery to remove tumors at one of Venezuela’s largest medical facilities, Maracay’s Central Hospital. However, like many of the nation’s sick, she has been neglected by a health care system that, according to doctors, is deteriorating into a final state of collapse….To Read More…..



 

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