Tag Archives: Humanitarian

VENEZUELA..a COVID 19 TSUNAMI

Photo Credt: Dr Jueida Azkoul

As we in Canada transition into a gradual opening up from Covid restrictions  Venezuelans are facing an escalating Covid 19 crisis on top of years of food and medicine shortages, chronic malnutrition, unemployment, hyperinflation and political instability. Over the past 5 years Venezuelans have lost thousands of doctors and nurses and experienced chronic shortages of medicines and medical supplies leading to increases in many infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV, TB, diphtheria and measles and frequent inadequate management of acute and chronic medical problem.

The addition of the Covid 19 pandemic onto this fragile , vulnerable Venezuelan population is very concerning. It is impossible to estimate the prevalence of Covid 19 in Venezuela today as there are severe shortages of testing capabilities, contact tracing, PPE, medicines, ventilators and general hospital and ICU capacity.

It is concerning that the number of reported cases of Covid in Venezuela to WHO as of today is 459 with 10 deaths…in a population of 29 million ( 4 million people have left over past 5 years).

To put things in perspective, New Zealand, with a population of 4.8 million have reported 1498 cases and 21 deaths to date.

Neighbours such as Brazil have reported 220,291 cases( 6th highest in world) and 14,962 deaths, Colombia 14,216/ 546 deaths, Peru 84,495/ 2392 deaths, Ecuador 31,467/2594 and Chile 39,542/ 394

Tightening international sanctions, significantly reduced global oil prices and a poorly diversified national economy contributes significantly to a disastrous response to the Covid crisis.

The IMF recently rejected a Venezuelan request for $5 billion to support a Covid 19 response within Venezuela because of the uncertain political situation.

I am attaching a short video sent by some amazing medical colleagues who have chosen to stay in Venezuela to help their people during the ongoing humanitarian crisis including the recent Covid pandemic….

See Video

They are amazing human beings, who risk their own lives and the lives of their families daily to help their fellow Venezuelans in a very challenging environment.
I visited this hospital and met a number of people in the video in 2018.

As the video is in Spanish I will translate the main points…
These are doctors and nurses who work in the University Hospital de los Andes in Merida , Venezuela.

The hospital is responsible for looking after over a million patients from urban and mountainous rural areas in the Andes.

Prof Maria Odreman talks about improving testing capabilities and contact tracing to identify those infected and reduce the transmission chain.

Photo Credt: Dr Jueida Azkoul

The hospital has well trained , committed staff but limited resources
(A rapid antibody test from China has been used in Venezuela to date to diagnose Covid..it is not a good test to use for diagnosis with lots of false negatives and turns positive 1-2 weeks post onset of infection).

There is a huge shortage of NP and throat swabs + reagent and lab capacity
Dr Jueida Azkoul talks about the need for more lab testing capabilities/ test options including PCR to help diagnosis and shorten diagnostic time and improve PPE/ disinfectant access to protect staff and patients.

I understand it is a very difficult time for many in these challenging times but if you are comfortable in making a donation to help these front line health care workers and the people of Venezuela please make a donation…

You can also make a donation through BASIC HEALTH INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION

basichealthinternational.org  (Here)

Donations over $25 will be issued a tax receipt for Canadian donors.

Please mark ” Venezuela Covid response” on any donations.

A donor has offered to donate $4 for every $1 donated through BHIF..so every dollar you donate will turn into $5 donated !!

Basic Health International Foundation does not charge any administration fees.

Many thanks to you all !!!

Bill Hanlon MD

Venezuela in Crisis: A country, a people in hemorrhage

For those of us who have been following the deteriorating socioeconomic situation in Venezuela, it is alarming to see the extent of deterioration in the quality of life of Venezuelans over the past 3-4 years.
This is a country that was once the world’s largest oil exporter, rich in natural beauty, ecological diversity, natural resources and beautiful, friendly, resourceful people.
Venezuela is experiencing a major humanitarian crisis at present, the economic collapse giving rise to food shortages, a rapidly deteriorating health care and education system, hyperinflation and almost complete depletion of foreign reserves.
The IMF predicts Venezuela’s inflation rate will reach 1 million % by the end of 2018 (1,000% 2017,112% 2015).

Venezuelan children wait in a food distribution long queue in Caracas, Venezula, on 23 November 2017. Venezuel people lives between the alert, crisis and humanitarian emergency indexes, with a clear negative trend. (Photo by Alvaro Fuente/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In order to function, grow and prosper, a society requires certain basics such as good access to food and clean water, an adequate health care and educational system, security and a stable economic and political environment.
Venezuela over the last 5 years plus has had none of the above…

The socioeconomic impact of this meltdown is reflected in some of the following statistics:

  • Food Shortages: 90% of the population lives below the the poverty line (WHO)
  • Average Venezuelan has lost 24 lbs in the past year
  • “61% went to bed hungry in 2017”
  • Health Care Meltdown: 85% medicines either impossible or difficult to find in 2017
  • Hospitals reporting less than 10% of needed medicines and medical supplies available, radiology and lab services markedly diminished or shut down completely
    A recent national survey of 40 hospitals showed a 1/3 of hospital beds were non functioning, 50% of ERs don’t have vital medicines and 95% of CT scans and 51% of X-ray machines were not working
  • Increased outbreaks of infectious diseases such as diphtheria, measles, HIV, malaria and TB (highest in 40 years)
  • Reduced access/availability of vaccines…potency concerns
  • Acute and chronic malnutrition, especially in children
  • 300,000 children at risk of malnutrition related death(OAS)
  • Acute and chronic diarrhea related to poor water
  • Brain Drain: >13,000 doctors and more nurses have left Venezuela over the past 4 years along with many others
  • Human migration: > 2.3 million people (7% pop) have left since 2015
  • Colombia, Peru, USA, Spain, Chile, Panama, Brazil…(UN)
  • Crime: world’s 2nd highest homicide rate 57/100,000 (Canada 1.68/100,000)
    insecurity, robbery(40%) extortion 
  • Education meltdown: poor salaries, electricity blackouts, fuel shortages, teacher migration 
  • Economics: reduced economic output x 50% over past 4 years
  • Tourism meltdown: reduced to almost zero

I recently visited Venezuela to see how accurate were many of these reports .

I talked with many people working on the front line of health services in particular.

I visited a number of city hospitals and a rural health centre.

I talked with patients, family doctors, hospital and public health specialists, nurses, ambulance drivers, teachers and some people on the street.

I saw an 8 year old boy that looked barely 4 years old with marasmus…a condition related to severe general chronic malnutrition and more associated with the severe famines of Sub Saharan Africa in the 1980s.

I saw lots of examples of empty hospital beds, not because of lack of patients but because of lack of medicines, medical and surgical supplies, malfunctioning equipment, power outages and compromised water supplies.

I saw a number of basic X-ray machines not working because the wires had been cut to sell, equipment had broken down and no replacement parts available.

I saw an ER that had to survive without adrenaline for one week.

I saw many patients waiting on cots in ER for admission…some of these patients had active TB and were putting other patients and staff also at risk without any isolation options.

I saw a psychiatric ward that resembled some of the old Stalin Gulag prison camps.

I talked with a very competent head surgeon who was demoted because he reported to the Health Ministry that the mortality of patient’s admitted to the hospital had increased from 5% to an alarming 20% because of the lack of medicines and diagnostic tests.
The Ministry of Health blamed him on the alarming increase in patient mortality and demoted him.

I talked with the medical director of a city hospital who was on a salary of $9 US / month and often the payment was delayed by 2-3 months He was a well-trained medical specialist and hospital administrator.

Most of the people I met both medical and non-medical ate one meal per day…Usually a thin “arepa” which is a corn pancake traditional in Venezuela.
Rarely can people afford meat or vegetables.

My impression is rural people have a little better access to food than urban dwellers…still rarely get to eat meat.

Rural dwellers tend to have even less access to medicines, medical supplies and medical staff.

My impression is people have a significant protein and micronutrient deficient diet.
There is still significant amount of food available in Venezuela but as a result of spiraling inflation it is not affordable for most I saw fridges with 1-2 carrots or potatoes.
People’s diet is high in carbohydrate and low in protein, fat and micronutrients.
As a result, some people look healthier than they really are…similar to what I have seen on the Tibetan plateau.

I heard of cases of patient’s being kept alive with manual pumps because ventilators were faulty or power outages.

These are very difficult conditions for patients and staff.

It’s amazing how those medical staff who have stayed keep going every day in such conditions…a testament to their commitment to their people and country.

Not all medical and nursing graduates stay.
An alarming 50% of recent graduates from one medical school I visited, have already left the country, even before internship.
No doubt similar statistics in nursing and other medical professions.
Who can blame them, working is such circumstances.

I saw an astronomical lack of appropriate medicines and diagnostic equipment at primary, secondary and tertiary care facilities.
Many infections are treated on the blind without access to diagnostic tests, often with an inferior and sometimes inappropriate antibiotic because that’s all that’s available.

It’s not surprising that we are seeing such an increase in infectious diseases across the country.
This has the potential to markedly increase multi drug resistant organisms across Venezuela, it’s neighbouring countries and the world.
The mass migration of >2.3 million people out of Venezuela in the past 3 years accentuates this risk.

As a result of the complete breakdown in the health care system, one cannot rely on current health statistics and numbers.

My impression is the prevalence of many diseases and multi drug resistant infectious disease especially is underestimated and underreported to Venezuelan citizens, the WHO and the rest of the world.

The consequences of a broken health care system and economy is having a huge impact on Venezuelans, their neighbours and most likely the rest of the world.

Venezuelan President Maduro was quoted at the UN in September 2018 saying “Venezuela is a victim of world media attacks designed to construct a supposed humanitarian crisis so as to justify a military intervention.”

Up to recently he has refused to acknowledge a crisis and has refused to accept international humanitarian aid.

The Lima Group is a multilateral group of neighbouring Latin American countries and Canada, established in August 2017 to work towards a peaceful solution to the current Venezuelan crisis.
It works towards release of political prisoners, offers humanitarian aid, calls for free elections and promoting restoration of democracy in Venezuela.

Within the past 2 weeks there has been a glimmer of hope!
The United Nations recently announced it would provide $9.2 million to Venezuela from its Central Emergency Response Fund to go to UN agencies within Venezuela.

Maduro has recently invited Michelle Bachelet (former Chilean president and now head of the UN’s Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights) to visit Venezuela.

Venezuelan’s secretive central bank which has refused to share financial information for a long time is reportedly preparing new data for the IMF .

Hopefully this is grounds for a spark of cautious optimism in a country that has such huge potential and has endured so much more darkness than light for so long.

The world needs to pay more attention to the plight of Venezuelans and keep pressure on the Maduro regime to admit there is a crisis, accept international humanitarian aid and start working towards a democracy where people can live in a secure, less corrupt state, where there is good access to nutrition, health care and education and the opportunity for its citizens and country to thrive once again.

Bill Hanlon MD

Our Journey Begins

Bill Hanlon, Basic Health Int'l, and KADO rep Imran Khan interview shepherds during mobile health clinic near Zood Khun village, Chipurson Valley, tributary of Hunza Valley, PakistanOur trip started out on an adventurous note, with a political diversion to Lahore for 15 hours and eventually arriving in Islamabad 15 hours later than expected. We caught a few hours sleep and then drove up the Karakorum Highway (KKH) for 2 days with many army roadblocks along the way.

On arrival in Gilgit, we had a very productive meeting with Dr. Zaeem Zia, a John Hopkins trained local physician who was conducting a series of training sessions for village medical technicians. Dr. Zia has been very supportive of our work in Hunza.

We both felt a great sense of calm as soon as we arrived in Karimibad (Hunza). That magnificent vista down valley towards Rakaposhi, the cooler and less polluted air and the great hospitality of the Hunza people worked wonders in relaxing and comforting our exhausted aching, aging bodies!

We got the opportunity the first evening in Karimibad to meet the chairman and some board members of KADO.

The following morning, I had a productive meeting with Ms Zadia Zia the current Minister of Tourism for Gilgit/Baltistan. We discussed ways to improve the travel experience for western tourists visiting Hunza and ways to encourage more visitors to come in a safer way. We discussed the possibilities of coming in from Kashgar on the China side. She had indicated that preliminary talks had already taken place to develop a more active tourist corridor between Kashgar and Hunza. Improving the economic status of the residents of Hunza through improving employment in the tourism area would help improve the overall health of the people of Hunza. Hunza has a large number of well educated young adults that would thrive in a robust tourism economy. This would keep more young adults in the Hunza area and reduce the need to travel to the cities for low paying jobs.

We then had a meeting in Aliabad with Amjad (Chairman), Mubeen (CEO) and other members of the KADO team to discuss our work plan. Many good ideas/recommendations came from this meeting

KADO agreed to allow Imran Khan travel with us as interpreter and guide. Imran was a great asset to our team and worked diligently to make the trip successful.

We then met with the Government of Pakistan District Health Officer Dr. Sher Hafiz. We discussed many local health issues and ways we could work collaboratively in the future. In particular, we discussed the TB situation in the Shimshal Valley and discussed previous studies, the estimated prevalence and possible ways we could work together to try to eliminate the problem from the Shimshal Valley.

Impact Magazine: Names Hanlon Impact Hero

January Issue of Impact Magazine

IMPACT Magazine is a monthly publication devoted to information about fitness, sport performance and health.

Read the article here.