Seriously ill patients in Venezuela are turning to unconventional means to source lifesaving medicines as the country’s healthcare system disintegrates.
With months of nationwide drug shortages affecting thousands of patients, Venezuelans have been crowd-sourcing tablets over social media, or relying on foreigners to crowd-fund and export treatments to the struggling country.
Venezuelans have been suffering under a rolling political and economic crisis which has seen widespread blackouts, bare supermarket shelves and thousands of patients dying from preventable illnesses.
"I have just 20 days to obtain this medicine for my daughter Isabella, who has leukaemia. It's urgent. Please help," the tweet below reads.
Over 200,000 patients are affected by the shortages in the country of 30 million, according to non-profit umbrella group CodeVida.
Doctors in the country have reported that almost half of public hospital operating rooms are non-operational and that a majority of the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines were not available in pharmacies.
Last year the country’s central bank said that 50% of medicines were out of stock. The number is closer to 80% now, according to the Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation.
"Let's help Fabian Vargas who could not receive his chemotherapy because there's no more Neupogen," the tweet below reads.
The BBC reports they’ve come across Facebook and Whatsapp groups dedicated to sourcing and sharing medicines. Comment threads on web-pages are filled with desperate pleas for assistance.
On Twitter hashtags like #ElCancerNoEspera (Cancer Does Not Wait) and #donatumedicamento (Donate Your Medicine) are used to call for help or broadcast new supplies.
NGOs have asked people to search for leftover medicine from previous illnesses to send it to people in need, with some acting as distributors – checking dosages and expiry dates.
Doctors groups have been campaigning for more supplies, posting images of patients in need and taking to the streets in protest.
"She is Euvencia Lara, 64 days waiting for scans," the tweet below from a 19 year old activist reads.
Embattled President Nicolas Maduro has blamed drug companies, pharmacies and doctors themselves for the healthcare crisis. His government says the government can supply the drugs the country requires.
Human Rights Watch says that’s not a workable solution.
“Venezuela does not have a strong pharmaceutical industry, so the country has to import most medications and medical supplies. Even for medications that are made locally, the raw materials often come from abroad,” Associate Director Diederik Lohman said.
Neighbouring countries have offered assistance, but the Venezuelan government is opposed to receiving help. They say it would be an unnecessary foreign intervention.
Some individuals and organisations have been forging ahead regardless, such as Venezuelan born American baseball player Carlos González . "Carlos González sent $500,000 in drugs gathered since February," the tweet below says.
Currency controls and price restrictions have had a severe impact on drug and medical equipment supply, Human Rights Watch says. The global collapse in oil prices has only made a bad situation worse, they say.
The country had relied on its oil exports to prop up a range of social welfare programs.
Some drugs are available on the black market, which trades everything from toilet paper to the country’s currency itself. Prices are inflated though, and there are concerns about fakes and dosage controls.
But with little end in sight to the crisis, social media appeals and black market purchases are often patients’ only options.
“I never thought I’d be exposing my son on social media. But I am one Mother DEMANDING on behalf of many, their right to live,” the tweet below reads.
Earlier this year Dateline on SBS profiled the crisis in Find My Kid Drugs. You can watch that full episode right here:
