Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/story/572408/Venezuelans-suffer-malaria-outbreak-as-drugs-elusi
Venezuelans suffer malaria outbreak as drugs elusive
November 24 2017 10:40 PM
On a recent morning in Venezuela?s southern jungle state of Bolivar, Amanda Santamaria, her two sons, one daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter lined up in front of a shabby community health centre in the hope of receiving treatment for malaria.
All five of them are afflicted by the mosquito-borne disease, which is rapidly spreading through Venezuela as an economic meltdown strips the country of medicine and doctors.
?We don?t know if this is a curse, but the entire area is awash in malaria,? said Santamaria, 56, suffering her second bout of the illness in the last three months and relying on palliative herbal teas because she has not found regular drugs.
The family was waiting with some 500 others under the scorching sun in the hope of receiving treatment.
Unsanitary conditions in Bolivar are thought to have led to a recent flare-up in malaria, a life-threatening disease that had been largely brought under control in Venezuela in the 1990s.
The outbreak was likely initially caused by illegal mining. The miners cut down rainforests and often work in pools of stagnant water, which favours the spread of mosquitoes and malaria.
In a rare release of data earlier this year, government statistics showed there were 240,613 cases of malaria last year, up 76% compared with 2015, with most in Bolivar.
The former health minister was fired after the data was published, and it has not been updated since.
The government did not respond to a request for comment on the malaria outbreak.
On a visit to Bolivar in early November, the vice minister for health, Moira Tovar, said the outbreak in the state would be controlled within three months.
She said that 32 people had died during just one week in late October...
Venezuelans suffer malaria outbreak as drugs elusive
November 24 2017 10:40 PM
On a recent morning in Venezuela?s southern jungle state of Bolivar, Amanda Santamaria, her two sons, one daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter lined up in front of a shabby community health centre in the hope of receiving treatment for malaria.
All five of them are afflicted by the mosquito-borne disease, which is rapidly spreading through Venezuela as an economic meltdown strips the country of medicine and doctors.
?We don?t know if this is a curse, but the entire area is awash in malaria,? said Santamaria, 56, suffering her second bout of the illness in the last three months and relying on palliative herbal teas because she has not found regular drugs.
The family was waiting with some 500 others under the scorching sun in the hope of receiving treatment.
Unsanitary conditions in Bolivar are thought to have led to a recent flare-up in malaria, a life-threatening disease that had been largely brought under control in Venezuela in the 1990s.
The outbreak was likely initially caused by illegal mining. The miners cut down rainforests and often work in pools of stagnant water, which favours the spread of mosquitoes and malaria.
In a rare release of data earlier this year, government statistics showed there were 240,613 cases of malaria last year, up 76% compared with 2015, with most in Bolivar.
The former health minister was fired after the data was published, and it has not been updated since.
The government did not respond to a request for comment on the malaria outbreak.
On a visit to Bolivar in early November, the vice minister for health, Moira Tovar, said the outbreak in the state would be controlled within three months.
She said that 32 people had died during just one week in late October...