On August 25, the Human Rights Enforceability Unit of Venezuelan NGO Acción Solidaria presented its report “HEALTH IN EMERGENCY: The Venezuela case”, as the result of monitoring conducted between January and December 2020 that documented 1,436 cases related to violations of the right to health in 109 public health centers, located in 22 of the 24 states of the country.
Natasha Saturno, lawyer and coordinator of the unit, explained that the information was collected through the websites of 21 national and international media outlets and 27 civil society organizations with the aim of identifying the patterns regarding the lack of guarantees to the human right human to health, the deterioration of the health centers of the public system, the most vulnerable populations, and the risk faced by medical personnel amid the Complex Humanitarian Emergency afflicting Venezuela.
The variables evaluated by the team for this study make up the universal standards for the human right to health: availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality. Saturno warned that the report is not intended to be a statistical study rather a record that sets a precedent about the neglect of the State and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable families.
Juan Manuel Rodrigues, a lawyer and member of the unit, specified that 21% of the 1,436 registered cases took place in health centers of the public system. He also explained that 8 of the 109 monitored health centers belong to the Barrio Adentro Mission; 9 are primary care facilities, 7 are centers specialized in dialysis, and 85 are hospitals of a different category. 70% of the cases are directly related to the standard of availability.
Saturno assured that this monitoring made it possible to identify women, children, and teenagers as the most vulnerable groups amid the Complex Humanitarian Emergency. Also, she showed that the SARS-COV-2 pandemic has increased the risks for an invisible group: health personnel.
Among the conclusions, the Human Rights Enforceability Unit specified that the violations of the right to health by the Venezuelan State are systematic and that the global emergency has exacerbated and made evident the deterioration of the public health system.
You can find the full report in Spanish HERE
Translated by José Rafael Medina
