The Pan american Health Organization and Venezuela

Abstract

On June 14 of this year, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Carissa F. Etienne met with the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with the objective of seeking "joint strategies to preserve the health of the Venezuelans ". The following week, at the 162nd session of the PAHO Executive Committee held in the city of Washington DC (USA), a report was released on the health situation in Venezuela, where updated figures on the transmission of diseases such as malaria are presented. measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria and AIDS. The document mentions the "significant increase" of malaria in Venezuela since 2015, when there were 136,000 cases which increased to 406,000 in 2017. The report indicates that this increase is associated with the migration of infected people in the mining areas of the country. Bolivar state to other areas of the country, as well as the scarcity and / or cost of antimalarial drugs and the weakening of vector control programs.