Report shows growing HIV, TB and malaria crisis in Venezuela
Triple threat: Resurging epidemics, a broken health system, and a global indifference to Venezuela’s crisis
October 12, 2017, Toronto, CANADA and Caracas, VENEZUELA - Venezuela is in the middle of an unprecedented, state-made, complex humanitarian emergency with severe and widespread social consequences, including for people living with and affected by HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, ICASO and ACCSI said today in launching a new report. International inaction has set the stage for a rapidly worsening disaster in 2018.
"In May 2017, the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria voted to support a regional response to the crisis,"
said Mary Ann Torres, executive director of ICASO. "But this has
not yet materialized."
Venezuela's government
denies the crisis, and blocks publication of health data that
would document the worsening disaster. In the absence of
official health data, this report,
Triple threat: Resurging epidemics, a broken health system,
and global indifference to Venezuela’s crisis, draws on interviews with Venezuelan people living with HIV,
doctors, advocates, academics and United Nations representatives
to document the health emergency.
The
government denial of the crisis, the country's classification by
the World Bank as Upper Middle Income, and the lack of official
epidemiological data all made Venezuela ineligible for many
forms of aid, including from the Global Fund. The Global Fund
Board voted to provide aid to a regional response, but none has
yet developed.
Despite the palpable suffering
in Venezuela, the global community has yet to take decisive
action. “The current health crisis in Venezuela is a
symptom and a consequence of the failures of the global
architecture which should be able to mount a response to any
humanitarian crisis. The devastation we are facing is being
perpetuated in part by the arbitrary rules and regulations that
shape global health aid eligibility,” said Alberto Nieves,
Executive Director of ACCSI. “The world will not achieve
the sustainable development goals, if the global community
continues to turn a blind eye to the public health catastrophe
in Venezuela. We need decisive immediate global leadership to
avert this crisis.”
About ICASO
ICASO is a Canadian organization that acts as a global policy
voice on HIV issues that impact diverse communities around the
world. Our advocacy work champions the leadership of civil
society and key populations in the effort to end AIDS. We
do this through collaborative partnerships with people and
organizations in all regions and various sectors, always with a
view to serving and empowering communities.
www.icaso.org
About ACCSI
Acción Ciudadana contra el SIDA (ACCSI) (Citizens Action
against AIDS) is a Venezuelan organization working to ensure
effective and coordinated strategies to protect, promote and
defend human rights of people living with HIV and other key and
vulnerable populations.
www.accsi.org.ve
Source:
ICASO
