Since the beginning of the quarantine, more than 45 requests for pediatric consultations have been received each day by Mothers and Fathers For Children in Venezuela (Mapani), a human rights organization in Lara. Its six members, including two pediatricians, work hand in hand on caring for a large number of infants with malnutrition problems, but the capacity of their headquarters is not enough to help so many people.
“We are receiving patients from the region’s public health centers because after the quarantine was decreed, consultations for children were suspended. We do not have the capacity to care for so many patients,” said Gretna El Halabi, president of Mapani. This organization started in January 2020 a program financed by international organizations to provide 250 children suffering from moderate to acute malnutrition with nutritional supplements in the poorest neighborhoods of Lara.
“We have the resources for the registered children, we provide nutritional assistance to 25 of them on Monday and Tuesday, plus 25 more on Wednesday and Thursday, but we are contacted by parents with young children who are not registered asking for help and we do everything to stretch the money, “she said. The organization provides nutritional supplements, iron, and protein to children with low weight, growth deficits, and anemia.
“Parents and children arrive at our office by foot, from the neighborhoods of 5th of July, La Carucieña, and El Cercado, as well as downtown and north Barquisimeto. They are provided with disposable face masks so that their children can access the consultation room, we take disinfection measures and we make sure social distancing is observed, “she said. We cannot serve more than 27 people each day, although more than 50 patients gather outside with their parents.
People look to the NGO because of the high cost of a private pediatric consultation. Prices in Barquisimeto can range from $ 15 to $ 20.
