At least 233 people have died in Venezuelan hospitals between 2019 and 2021 due to power outages, the National Hospital Survey (EHN), endorsed by the National Academy of Medicine and the opposition, revealed on Wednesday.
“In 2019, the total number of deaths that could be attributed to power outages was 17, in 2020 it was 75 and at the end of 2021 it was 141”, in other words their sum reached 233 in the period under study, according to the research .
Doctors from the largest hospitals in the country participated in the research. It started in 2014 in order to understand the shortcomings of the public health system, which is facing shortages of medicines and other items, water and electricity interruptions.
The authors of the study, owned by the NGO Médicos por la Salud (“Doctors for Health”), began counting deaths due to power outages after the 2019 blackout, which lasted four days.
Patients “died because they needed uninterrupted artificial respiration support” or “because they had to undergo emergency surgery but could not be transported inside a hospital because the elevators were not working,” the study said.
The increase in the number of deaths in 2021 was probably due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, according to the text.
“When it comes to respiratory disease, patients who are in a more serious condition need permanent artificial respiratory support for several days. Voltage fluctuations obviously had consequences,” which proved fatal in such cases.
Venezuela has faced frequent and extensive power outages for a decade. The government of President Nicolas Maduro blames them for sabotage and problems because of international sanctions aimed at forcing it to relinquish power. Experts characterize the energy crisis in hospitals as a result of mismanagement and chronic lack of investment.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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