Healthcare in Venezuela

After the Bolivarian Revolution, extensive inoculation programs and 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.

Venezuelan state governments operated only 5 facilities in 1979, down from about 60 hospitals in 1970 since the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance (MSAS) took over many of the hospitals.

In 1978, a presidential election year, medical sales in Venezuela hit an all-time high at the time and dropped in 1979. In 1979, there were approximately 250 hospitals in Venezuela with MSAS operating the majority of 58%. Venezuela had a shortage of medical professionals and hospital beds in the late 1970s due to highly increasing population and the lack of specializing in being a specific medical technician. The lack of both professionals and beds was higher in rural areas compared to more populated areas. Between 1978 and 1980, Venezuela had 14,771 doctors, 8,805 nurses and 28,04 nursing auxiliaries.

Under the Sixth National Plan of Luis Herrera Campins, the Campins government planned to increase medical funding by 9.7% annually between 1981 and 1985, with medical expenditures planned to reach $2.1 billion in 1985. $1.2 billion were designated to the construction of new facilities to combat bed shortages, with a main focus on establishing clinics in order to avoid inefficiency of larger hospitals. Rehabilitation of handicapped individuals and the concentration on heart disease, the leading cause of death in Venezuela, were also focused on in the Sixth National Plan. Medical professionals in Venezuela were "extremely U.S. oriented", with most doctors attending post-graduate work in the United States, were able to speak English, read U.S. medical journals and attended gatherings of United States medical experts. In 1981, over 70% of healthcare services were government administered.

Foreign medical equipment developed abroad was quickly adopted and shipped to Venezuela with most of the country's medical goods needing to be imported. In 1980, Venezuela imported 47% of medical goods from the United States, 13% from Germany, 8% from Japan and 3% from the United Kingdom. The majority of medical equipment was distributed by a conglomerate of about 45 distributors known as Associacion Venezolana de Distribuidores de Equips Medicos (AVEDEM) while 15% of medical products were distributed by smaller entities.

Following the Bolivarian Revolution and the establishment of the Bolivarian government, initial healthcare practices were promising with the installation of free healthcare and the assistance received from Cuban medical professionals providing aid. The Bolivarian government's failure to concentrate on healthcare for Venezuelans, the reduction of healthcare spending and government corruption eventually affected medical practices in Venezuela; causing avoidable deaths along with an emigration of medical professionals to other countries. Venezuela's reliance of imported goods and its complicated exchange rates initiated under Hugo Chávez led to increasing shortages during the late-2000s and into the 2010s that affected the availability of medicines and medical equipment in the country.

...
Wikipedia