Venezuela's earthquake-hit hospitals pushed to the brink as disease risk grows

Venezuela's earthquake-hit hospitals pushed to the brink as disease risk grows

An assessment by the UN-backed Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) found that all eight health facilities it reviewed in La Guaira, Caracas and Miranda need immediate outside help.

Three have structural damage. Authorities have reported 2,295 deaths, 11,267 injuries and 12,841 people displaced or seriously affected.Overwhelmed wardsAt Vargas-IVSS hospital in La Guaira, 96 patients are crammed into a ward built for eight beds. The morgue is overwhelmed, the blood bank holds just 35 units, and both ventilators in the trauma unit are out of action for lack of power. There is no working phone or internet connection to track patients.Water arrives by hand-carried containers several times a day. Medical waste has piled up in the corridors. PAHO has ranked Vargas-IVSS its top priority facility, even though the building itself is structurally sound.At Rafael Medina Jiménez hospital, also in La Guaira, capacity has dropped from 108 beds to 35. Assessors also found patient transport problems, supply shortages, growing surgical waiting lists and biosecurity failures.Responders among the affectedIan Clark, who leads the World Health Organization's (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, told reporters in Geneva that the disaster has struck the responders too.“It's worth pausing to recognise the incredible work being done by local communities and national and international response teams in really difficult circumstances,” he said. “In many cases, those responding at community and national level are people directly affected, who have friends and family affected by the earthquake.”