Overview
The availability of low or no-cost health care provided by the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security made Venezuela's health care infrastructure one of the more advanced in Latin America. However, by 2015 the Venezuelan health care system had collapsed. In March 2015, a Venezuelan NGO reported that there was a 68% shortage of surgical supplies and a 70% shortage of medicines in Venezuelan pharmacies. In August 2015 Human Rights Watch said “We have rarely seen access to essential medicines deteriorate as quickly as it has in Venezuela except in war zones.” Private health services are very costly and completely oversubscribed with no space for new patients in need.
Due to the political problems, medical shortages have gotten worse. For the Venezuelan diabetic population, every day it is harder to get the supplies they need. Those who can afford to pay for things are struggling as much as those who cannot afford to pay because there is a general lack of medicine. It is difficult to get medical care because of the conditions. There is a lack of professional medical staff, there are few of the medicines required and the hospitals are not in good condition. Even those who can afford private medical consultation lack access to their supplies.
What happens if you need to see a doctor?
If you need to see a doctor you have the option to go to a hospital or clinic, public or private. Most of the specialists have migrated from the country because of the insecurity and economic problems. Doctors have been victims of stealing in the public hospitals. Some have whitened murder of their own patients due to lack of resources. Their job is limited because their patients cannot access their medicines. The public hospitals don´t have the minimum conditions of sanitation, necessary medical supplements, or enough professional medical staff.
Who decides what medicines a doctor can prescribe?
The government decides what medicines are approved for doctors to prescribe. But now, as mentioned, is very difficult to have access to regular medicines at all, including insulin, glucagon, etc.
Practically, what is like to live with type 1 diabetes in Venezuela?
It is very hard to deal with diabetes in Venezuela because of the low chance of having a regular control without regular supplies. Diabetics do not receive government help aside from a few people who receive insulin once a month from the Social Security, which is not enough. The insulin they receive nowadays is intermediate-acting insulin: NPH. This insulin begins its effect after two to four hours and makes diabetes harder to control than other types of insulin. People have to use the same syringe for two or three days. There is also lack of all the supplies (glucometers, glucometer battery, testing strips, lancets, lancet pen, glucagon, insulin syringe, insulin pen needles, and all types of insulin) in the market. Anything that is available costs very much because of the Venezuelan political and economic problems.
For example, the minimum salary is just less than $19 per month. One Humalog pen costs $1.5 and 25 lancets cost $2.5. A glucometer costs anywhere from $6-25 and one box of 25 strips costs $20. So you can see that these costs are unaffordable for most people.
This lack of medicine is considered a humanitarian emergency. People are dying in the hospitals, clinics and outpatient because of scarcity. A regular healthy diet for people with diabetes is also too expensive and non-viable.
What about getting admitted to hospital?
In Venezuela there are no hospitals in good condition, and the medical stuff are not sufficiently prepared to attend to patients. People who can afford to pay for private clinics also still have the problem with lack of medicines and treatments.
How does diabetes care and technology vary throughout the country?
The situation is dire throughout the country. Insulin pumps have been prohibited, the insulin being offered is out of date, and access to updated glucometers is not possible.
Thank you to the incredible Camila Gonzalez for helping us to provide this difficult information.