Sick Venezuelans are Dying Due to Poor Health Care System & Colombia Border Restrictions
Sick Venezuelans are trying to seek medical help from Colombia amid a lingering border dispute between the two countries.
Appearing more like casualties of war, ill Venezuelans are still hoping to get help from their neighbors in Colombia even if the two governments remain at a war, which President Nicolas Maduro had previously blamed on the media Bogotá for promoting "hateful messages."
Venezuela's Failing Healthcare Service
Venezuela was once a great nation with impressive economic standing, thanks to their massive oil reserves that contributed 96 percent of the country's foreign export earnings, per VenEconomia.
But that was before former bus driver Nicolas Maduro won a highly disputed election in 2013.
During his reign, Maduro had been accused of several things, including mismanaging the country's economy.
The pitiful situation in the country had drawn international attention, particularly that of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) who witnessed firsthand the difficulties of getting sick in Venezuela.
Last year, the HRW discovered that the country lacked even the most basic tools, equipment and medicine to treat their patients.
One example is the pediatrics area at the University Hospital where doctors admitted that they "sterilize and reuse" masks handed to young patients with respiratory conditions.
Meanwhile, doctors at the Caracas children's medical facility J.M. de los Ríos Hospital said they are having a difficult time with diagnoses due to the lack of laboratory supplies such as lab tubes and test kits.
Seeking for Colombia's Help
Now, the people of Venezuela are sick of suffering from substandard and almost non-existent healthcare services and decided to step over the boundaries of pride towards the border of their neighbor: Colombia.
A special report from the Associated Press (via ABC News) featured ill Venezuelans gathering along the Colombian border at dawn to seek medical help.
"This never would have happened if not for the closure. It was day after day of fatigue for him," said Elvira Cubides, a mother of 33-year-old dialysis patient Dany Cubides.
Early this year, Cubides collapsed on the bridge that links Venezuela to the Colombian city of Cucuta when he was on his way home from treatment.
After the border had been closed off to Venezuelans, Cubides had an extra difficult time going to the Cucuta treatment facility.
On one fateful day just after New Year, his suffering ended after he stumbled and fell off of the bridge due to extreme exhaustion.
Cucuta doctors who attended to him after the incident declared him dead on arrival.
Like Cubides, many Venezuelans have to go through the same ordeal every time they need medical help from Colombia, which had previously welcomed over 100,000 border-crossers prior to the dispute.
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