The Terminal Illnesses of Venezuela's Healthcare System

The healthcare sector in Venezuela is being eaten away by a number of terminal diseases inoculated by the so-called Socialism of the 21st century. The first one of them is the lack of a public policy thought up for ensuring health and welfare to the Venezuelan people. A "Bolivarian trial and error" and irresponsible improvisation is what has prevailed over the past 15 years, thus tossing away all the experience and progress achieved during the second half of the 20th century.Added to this is the lack of maintenance and investment in new hospital infrastructure and outpatient centers. In several states across the national territory, these half-built projects have been abandoned by the country's public authorities. The Barrio Adentro outpatient centers, whose aim was that of bringing primary care closer to the people living in the slums, have completely failed.  More…